Growing number of parents get vaccine exemptions for their kids

Jimmy Alexander | jimmy.alexander@wtop.com
December 21, 2024, 5:04 AM

If you compare the 2019-20 to the 2023-2003 school year, you would see that the national kindergarten coverage with state-required vaccinations dropped from 95% to approximately 93%.

Exemptions increased in 41 jurisdictions, with 14 reporting that more than 5% of kindergarten-aged children had an exemption from one or more vaccine, according to a new report from the CDC.

Meanwhile, the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine coverage rate has dropped below 95% in D.C. and Virginia. It did not fall in Maryland.

The District fell below D.C. the 95% coverage rate in diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis vaccines, and Virginia joined D.C. in falling below the coverage rate in polio. The news is of major concern to health professionals like Dr. Gabrina Dixon, a pediatrician with Children’s National Hospital in D.C.

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Jimmy Alexander
Jimmy Alexander has been a part of the D.C. media scene as a reporter for DC News Now and a long-standing voice on the Jack Diamond Morning Show. Now, Alexander brings those years spent interviewing newsmakers like President Bill Clinton, Paul McCartney and Sean Connery, to the WTOP Newsroom.
jimmy.alexander@wtop.com