The declines began with the pandemic, well before routine vaccines became part of the national political conversation.
After years of holding steady, American vaccination rates against once-common childhood diseases have been dropping.
Nationwide, the rate of kindergartners with complete records for the measles vaccine declined from around 95 percent before the pandemic to under 93 percent last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Immunization rates against polio, whooping cough and chickenpox fell similarly.
Average rates remain high, but those national figures mask far more precipitous drops in some states, counties and school districts.
In those areas, falling vaccination rates are creating new pockets of students no longer protected by herd immunity, the range considered high enough to stop an outbreak. For a community, an outbreak can be extremely disruptive. For children, measles and other once-common childhood diseases can lead to hospitalization and life-threatening complications...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/01/13/upshot/vaccination-rates.html?smid=em-share
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