Vaccination Rates are Declining. They Might Get Worse as States Relax Rules.
More states are loosening vaccine mandates, scaling back vaccine promotion efforts, and taking other steps likely to lower vaccination rates – even as a major measles outbreak spreads in Texas.
Meanwhile, public health experts worry that the confirmation of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services could add fuel to such efforts, leading to the resurgence of long-tamed infectious diseases.
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which Kennedy now oversees, canceled the upcoming meeting of a scientific panel that was slated to discuss next year’s flu vaccines. Also this week, an unvaccinated child died of measles in Texas – the country’s first measles death in a decade. The outbreak, which has spilled into neighboring New Mexico, has now grown to more than 130 cases.
Already, vaccination rates are lower than they were before the pandemic. The COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, but many Americans bristled at vaccine mandates, and disinformation and rapidly evolving public health advice undermined many people’s trust in scientific authorities.
The Anti-Vaccination Trend is "the Antithesis of Public Health"
"The role of people in departments of health and the role of people in health care and medicine is to promote health and make sure the public is safe," said Dr. Scott Rivkees, a pediatric endocrinologist who served as Florida’s surgeon general and health secretary from 2019 to 2021. "There’s such a rich history of legal precedent, such a rich history of public health precedent, saying that society benefits by having individuals vaccinated."
Changing Attitudes Have Had an Impact
Vaccination rates among children born in 2020 and 2021 declined by between 1.3 and 7.8 percentage points for recommended shots, compared with children born in 2018 and 2019, according to a September report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State-by-State Developments
In all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, children must receive certain vaccines to attend school. Every state offers an exemption for children who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. Thirty states plus the district allow families to skip the vaccinations for religious reasons, 13 states grant exemptions for religious or personal reasons, and two states – Louisiana and Minnesota – don’t require people to specify whether their objection is religious or personal.
Five states – California, Connecticut, Maine, New York, and West Virginia – don’t allow nonmedical exemptions.
Republican officials in more than a dozen states have introduced legislation to loosen vaccine rules or otherwise reduce their use. Legislation in Arizona would make it easier to claim a school exemption, while GOP-sponsored bills in Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon would limit or prohibit vaccine mandates for adults.
A Shift in Louisiana
Earlier this month, Dr. Ralph Abraham, Louisiana’s first-ever surgeon general, sent a memo to staff at the Louisiana Department of Health saying they should no longer recommend that Louisianans get "any and all vaccines." The memo also said the agency will "no longer promote mass vaccination." Instead, Abraham said, health workers should encourage residents to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccines with their doctors.
Staying the Course in Mississippi
But in neighboring Mississippi, which is also Republican-dominated, GOP leaders are staying the course – at least so far. More than two dozen anti-vaccine bills have died in the Mississippi legislature in the past two years, including this year’s proposed ban on mRNA vaccines.
Conclusion
The decline in vaccination rates is a concerning trend, and public health experts worry that it will lead to the resurgence of preventable diseases. It is crucial for policymakers to prioritize public health and take steps to promote vaccination.
FAQs
- What is the current vaccination rate among children born in 2020 and 2021?
- Vaccination rates among children born in 2020 and 2021 declined by between 1.3 and 7.8 percentage points for recommended shots, compared with children born in 2018 and 2019.
- How many states allow nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine requirements?
- Thirty states plus the District of Columbia allow families to skip the vaccinations for religious reasons, 13 states grant exemptions for religious or personal reasons, and two states – Louisiana and Minnesota – don’t require people to specify whether their objection is religious or personal.
- What is the current vaccination rate in Mississippi?
- The state’s childhood vaccination rate is 97.5%, well above the 91% national average but lower than the 99.3% rate it had in 2019.
