USA: Vaccination rates among preschool children continue to fall

In the USA, fewer preschool children are now vaccinated against common infectious diseases. The US health authority CDC, based in Atlanta, said the rate had decreased slightly compared to the previous year for most of the vaccinations recorded. In the 2025/2026 school year it was 92.0 percent for vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, 92.4 percent for vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella and against polio. That was a decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

At the same time, the proportion of preschool children who were exempt from at least one vaccination requirement rose from 3.6 to 4.2 percent. State law provides for exceptions to school vaccination requirements for reasons such as medical, religious or philosophical reasons. According to the CDC, the majority of exemptions were for non-medical reasons (4.0).

Most cases of measles in 35 years

Overall, the CDC numbers show a trend toward declining vaccination rates over the years. This is accompanied by a measles epidemic in the country. The United States recorded more measles cases this year than in 35 years. Ten years ago, the vaccination rate among preschool children against measles, mumps and rubella was 94.7 percent, 2.3 percentage points above the current value.

“For some diseases, like measles, even a small decline in vaccination rates can lead to more outbreaks because community immunity requires more than 95 percent of susceptible people to be immunized,” Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the Washington Post.

The CDC reports to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is considered a vaccine skeptic. President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order to reduce the number of recommended vaccinations. He also calls for combined vaccinations to be divided into several doctor visits. The World Health Organization (WHO) reacted with concern and sharp criticism to the US government's child vaccination policy, declaring that the order was "not in line with the state of science."