What parents need to know about vaccines as children return to school

As children head back to school in Chicago and across the region, many are doing so as hesitancy grows around vaccinations.

In suburban Cook County, there are an estimated 12,000 children who are not vaccinated against measles, a figure that has doubled in the past decade, according to county officials. In Chicago Public Schools, the percentage of students vaccinated against measles fell from 97% before the coronavirus pandemic to 93% last school year, the Chicago Sun-Times previously reported .

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle recalled Wednesday how many children from her generation fell ill with diseases that are now largely eradicated because of vaccines. But Preckwinkle and other county officials are ringing the alarm and rolling out a new campaign aimed at boosting the n