Sarasota kindergarten vaccine rates plummet — and doctors fear speaking out

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - As childhood vaccination rates plummet across the Suncoast and measles cases resurge nationwide, Sarasota County faces a critical threat to public health. Roughly 82% of kindergarteners in the public school system were fully immunized against the disease this year — well below herd immunity.

That’s roughly the same rate as in Gaines County, Texas, the epicenter of a measles outbreak that has killed two children and infected hundreds this year. And across all vaccine types for both public and private schools, Sarasota County’s kindergarten immunization rates have dropped to their lowest point in decades.

Yet the medical professionals best suited to sound the alarm are largely silent. Doctors and public health leaders are unwilling to speak publicly, fearful of poli