CDC Calls on Local Officials to Get Kids Vaccinated as Participation Continues to Decline

‘Decreasing vaccination coverage and increasing exemptions increase the risk for vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks,’ the federal agency said.

A 3-year-old girl sits on the lap of her mother in a file photo during a vaccination. David Ryder/Getty Images

Routine childhood vaccinations among kindergartners in U.S. public and private schools were down the previous school year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For the 2023–24 school year, vaccine updates among that grade cohort “declined” to lower than 93 percent “for all reported vaccines,” including diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTAP) as well as for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), the CDC said on Oct. 17.