Kindergarten vaccine exemptions rose in 2025-2026: CDC

# Analysis Rising kindergarten vaccine exemptions pose a direct threat to public health infrastructure that has protected American children for decades. When immunization rates fall below herd immunity thresholds—typically 85-95 percent depending on the disease—outbreaks become inevitable, putting infants too young for vaccination, immunocompromised children, and other vulnerable populations at serious risk. Measles, which was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, has already resurged in recent years following exemption increases, resulting in hospitalizations and preventable deaths that hadn't occurred in generations. Schools and hospitals will face the dual burden of managing disease outbreaks while contending with strained resources, while parents and employers will deal with extended closures and missed work—economic costs that compound the human toll of preventable illness.