US kindergarten vaccination rates dip as exemptions hit record high
Aug 22, 2026
New CDC data shows MMR vaccination among kindergarteners declining slightly as non-medical exemptions climb to 4.2%A week after Donald Trump made a series of misleading claims about vaccines – including that some injections look “like the size of a soda bottle” – the Centers for Disease Cont
rol and Prevention (CDC) released the latest data on national kindergarten vaccination rates.CDC communications downplayed the changes – a three-sentence announcement said, “overall vaccination rates among kindergarteners remained high” – but medical experts immediately saw cause for concern in the trends. Continue reading... ...read more read less