Measles vaccination rates fell in almost 8 in 10 US counties after COVID pandemic: Research

New research shows measles vaccination rates for children fell in almost 8 to 10 counties across the country after the COVID pandemic.

A John Hopkins University study tracked immunization records across 2,066 counties and 33 states. They compared the kindergarten vaccination rates from 2017-2020 to averages from 2022-2024, as reported by the Associated Press.

Their study comes a month after over 1,000 measles cases were reported in the U.S. backtracking on the country’s declaration of measles elimination in 2000.

The outbreak was first reported in Texas and soon spread to Kentucky, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri and Montana in addition to other areas.

John Hopkins found that counties in the Lone Star state saw a two-percentage-point increase in vaccination r