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CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA - AUGUST 13: A Medical Assistant draws a measles, mumps and rubella, vaccination to be administered to a young person at the pediatric office of Dr. Gary M. Kramer on August 13, 2026, in Coral Gables, Florida. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to overhaul childhood vaccination policy. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (TNND) — Vaccine exemptions among U.S. kindergarteners hit a new high in the 2025-2026 school year, rising to 4.2% as vaccination coverage slipped for every childhood vaccine tracked nationally, according to new CDC-reported data.
The exemption rate climbed from 3.6% the previous school year, a jump that translates to about 155,000 kindergarteners with exemptions from one or more required vaccines. The increase was widespread: exemption rates rose in 41 states and Washington, D.C.
At the same time, vaccination coverage declined across the board. National coverage ranged from 92.0% for DTaP to 92.4% for MMR and polio. Coverage for MMR, DTaP, polio and varicella fell in more than half of states.
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 10: Jayme Leagh Franklin with the The Conservateur (L), stands behind U.S. President Donald Trump (R), as he holds up a signed executive order calling for childhood vaccine shots to be spaced out into separate visits during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on August 10, 2026 in Washington, DC. During his second term, Trump has urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to investigate further research on vaccines. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The data also show gaps beyond formal exemptions. About 280,000 kindergarteners attended school without documentation that they had completed the MMR vaccine series.
Overall kindergarten vaccination coverage declined by about 0.1 percentage point from the previous school year. Public health officials often cite the need for very high vaccination coverage - roughly 95% for measles - to limit outbreaks, and the new figures show nearly half of states now above a 5% exemption rate, a level that can increase the risk of clusters of under-vaccinated children where outbreaks spread more easily.
The latest numbers underscore that the shift is not limited to a handful of places: exemptions reached a record high and increased across most of the country as routine childhood vaccination coverage continued to lose ground.