CDC Data Show Record School Vaccine Exemptions, Kindergarten Coverage Slips
The CDC posted 2025-26 kindergarten vaccination and exemption data on Monday, August 17, 2026, showing exemptions at 4.2% and MMR coverage at 92.4%.[1]
The new data show declines in coverage for polio, DTaP and the first chickenpox dose while hepatitis B coverage held steady.[1] PBS News had reported the same kindergarten figures earlier, which CBS says it independently corroborated.[2]
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was previously a leading antivaccine figure, CBS reports.[1] CBS says he and other federal officials have spent roughly the last 18 months trying to revise and reduce childhood vaccination guidance, which it links to rising exemptions.[1]
Earlier this month President Trump called for spacing out childhood shots into separate medical visits, a proposal major medical organizations say is not supported by research.[1] Dr. James Campbell of the American Academy of Pediatrics called confusion in vaccine guidance the "root cause" of rising exemptions and estimated more than a quarter-million kindergarten entrants are now susceptible to measles.[1]
CBS reports the CDC shifted from publishing these figures in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report with detailed briefings.[1] It now simply posts the numbers online and issues a brief statement urging parents to talk to doctors.[1] The outlet ties falling coverage to 2026 being the worst U.S. measles year since 1991 and to geographic clusters of unvaccinated children that shape outbreak intensity.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Monday, August 17, 2026, the CDC posted the 2025-26 kindergarten vaccination and exemption data showing exemptions at 4.2% and MMR coverage at 92.4%, figures CBS says match and independently corroborate earlier PBS reporting (2025-26 kindergarten vaccination and exemption data).
- CBS attributes part of the rise in exemptions to 'turmoil' and 'chaos and confusion' among federal health officials and notes that U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was previously a leading antivaccine figure and, along with other officials, has spent roughly the last 18 months trying to revise and reduce childhood vaccination guidance (U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.).
- The article reports that earlier this month President Trump called for revamped childhood vaccination recommendations that would space out childhood shots into separate medical visits — a proposal major medical organizations say is not supported by research (President Trump).
- Dr. James Campbell of the American Academy of Pediatrics told CBS the 'root cause' of rising exemptions is confusion in vaccination recommendation systems over the last year or so, and he estimates more than a quarter-million children entering kindergarten are now susceptible to measles (Dr. James Campbell of the American Academy of Pediatrics).
- CBS reports that under the Trump administration the CDC has shifted from releasing coverage data in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report with detailed briefings to simply posting the numbers online and issuing only a three-sentence statement urging parents to talk to doctors (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report).
- Vaccination coverage also fell for polio, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) and the first chickenpox dose while holding steady for hepatitis B, and CBS notes that recent efforts to alter infant hepatitis B guidance would take years to show up in kindergarten data (polio, DTaP and the first chickenpox dose).
- The report links the new coverage figures to the context that 2026 is the worst measles year in the U.S. since 1991 and says geographic clusters of unvaccinated children help explain varying outbreak intensity (2026 is the worst measles year in the U.S. since 1991).
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- On Monday, August 17, 2026, CDC posted 2025-26 kindergarten vaccination and exemption data showing exemptions at 4.2% and MMR coverage at 92.4%, figures that match but independently corroborate earlier PBS reporting.
- The CBS report attributes the rise in exemptions partly to "turmoil" and "chaos and confusion" caused by federal health officials, highlighting that U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously was a leading antivaccine figure and that he and other officials have tried over the last 18 months to revise and reduce childhood vaccination guidance.
- The article notes that earlier this month President Trump called for revamped childhood vaccination recommendations based on spacing out childhood shots into separate medical visits, a concept major medical organizations say is not supported by research.
- Dr. James Campbell of the American Academy of Pediatrics is quoted saying the "root cause" of rising exemptions is confusion in vaccination recommendation systems over the last year or so, and he estimates that more than a quarter-million children entering kindergarten are now susceptible to measles.
- The piece reports that, under the Trump administration, CDC has shifted from releasing coverage data in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report with detailed briefings to simply posting the numbers online and issuing only a three-sentence statement urging parents to talk to doctors.
- CBS specifies that vaccination coverage also fell for polio, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) and the first chickenpox dose, while holding steady for hepatitis B, and notes that recent efforts to alter infant hepatitis B guidance would take years to show up in kindergarten data.
- The report links the new coverage figures to the context that 2026 is the worst measles year in the U.S. since 1991 and that clusters of unvaccinated children vary by geography, helping explain varying outbreak intensity.