Fewer kids are getting vaccinated in Arkansas
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The share of U.S. kindergartners with vaccine exemptions increased in 40 states including Arkansas plus Washington, D.C., during the 2023-24 school year, according to recently updated CDC data.
Why it matters: The trend is a reflection of increased vaccine skepticism, which has lingered in some parenting corners for years but gained considerable steam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Driving the news: The share of kindergartners with exemptions for one or more vaccines increased to 3.3% in 2023-24, up from 3% the prior year.
- Compare that to 2013-14, when just 2.1% of U.S. kindergartners had vaccine exemptions.
Zoom in: Pertussis (whooping cough) cases are on the rise in Arkansas, according to a news releases from the Arkansas Department of Health.
- Arkansas has reported more than 200 cases of whooping cough this year, which is at least five times higher than the number of cases reported last year, according to the department. Most of the cases are in school-aged children and teens, and the best way to prevent them are vaccinations.
The big picture: Childhood vaccination has been stalling out globally, Axios' Tina Reed and Adriel Bettelheim report.
What's next: With noted vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. set to take a prominent public health role in the incoming Trump administration, it's likely that vaccine skepticism will go increasingly mainstream — despite the risk to kids left unprotected from diseases like measles and polio.