NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Thursday.

The fraction of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 3.6%, up from 3.3% the year before. It’s the third record-breaking year in a row for the national average exemption rate, and the vast majority are parents withholding shots for nonmedical reasons. The CDC also reported the median exemption rate among 48 states and the District of Columbia was 4.1%.

Meanwhile, 92.5% of 2024-25 kindergartners got their required measles-mumps-rubella shots, down slightly from the previous year. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination rate was 95% — the level that makes it unlikely that a single infec

See Full Page