India, Aug. 1 -- A record number of kindergartners in the U.S. had vaccine exemptions last school year, and fewer kids were fully vaccinated than the year before, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In the 2024-25 school year, 4.1 percent of kindergartners, equivalent to around 138,000 children, were exempt from at least one required vaccine. This is the highest exemption rate ever recorded, up from the previous high of 3.7 percent.
Vaccine coverage dropped in more than half of U.S. states, and exemptions increased in 36 states and Washington, D.C. Seventeen states now have exemption rates above 5 percent.
Notably, most of these exemptions were nonmedical, meaning parents chose not to vaccinat...