Childhood vaccine exemptions for personal or religious reasons hit new record, CDC finds

Health newsChildhood vaccine exemptions for personal or religious reasons hit new recordCDC data finds that vaccination rates for schoolkids are declining, as the Trump administration pushes for fewer shots. Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Routine childhood vaccinations dropped again last school year, according to new CDC data. Emily Elconin / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileShareAdd to GoogleAug. 17, 2026, 5:09 PM EDTBy Erika EdwardsThe number of parents in the U.S. choosing not to vaccinate their children rose dramatically in the last school year, according to data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.All states require certain vaccines for children entering public school. During the 2025-26 school year, 4.2% of kindergarteners, about 155,000 kids, had at least one vaccine exemption, up from 3.6% the previous school year. The vast majority of those exemptions were labeled as “non-medical,” meaning that parents or caregivers were opting out of the shots for personal or religious, rather than health, reasons. Medical exemptions remained stable at .2%.Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to drive down the number of vaccines recommended for kids, a move that drew widespread criticism from pediatricians and public health advocates. However, the new data reflects a trend of families resisting school vaccine requirements that began during the height of the Covid pandemic. Forty-one states and Washington, D.C., reported increases in exemptions, according to the CDC. The rise is “disappointing, but not surprising,” said Dr. David Margolius, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health. “It’s indicative of the lack of clear messaging at the national level about vaccines.” Ohio’s vaccine exemption rate was at 5.7%, according to the CDC data, up from 4.7% the year before. Routine vaccination coverage for kindergarteners dropped to 92% for the shot that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and whoo...