More Arizona kindergartners are getting vaccine exemptions
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The share of kindergartners with vaccine exemptions increased across most of the nation during the 2023-2024 school year — and Arizona had one of the highest exemption rates, per new CDC data.
Why it matters: The trend is in part a reflection of increased vaccine skepticism, which has lingered in some parenting corners for years but gained considerable steam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The big picture: About 8.5% of Arizona kindergartners were exempt from childhood vaccines last school year, significantly higher than the national average of about 3.3%.
- Arizona's childhood vaccine exemption rate has been rising steadily since about 2010 and shot up even more after the pandemic.
How it works: In Arizona, parents need only submit a "personal beliefs" form to their kid's school for their child to be exempted from vaccine requirements.
- The form includes information about the risks of preventable childhood diseases but does not require any description or proof of the parent's personal beliefs.
- "I don't feel like it is enough," Arizona Public Health Association executive director Will Humble told Axios.
The intrigue: Humble said he sees the anti-vax movement as just one of the reasons Arizona's exemption rate has soared above the national average.
- He also blames the state's easy exemption process and a diminished state program that increases vaccine access for low-income families.
Between the lines: Arizona's Vaccine For Children (VFC) program allows participating doctors to get reimbursed for providing Medicaid-eligible, uninsured, underinsured and Native American children with vaccines at their routine pediatrician appointments.
- The goal is to make it convenient for parents to vaccinate their children instead of forcing them to make another appointment with the county health department, Humble said.
Threat level: More than half of doctor's offices stopped participating in VFC between 2009 and 2022, according to a report commissioned last year by The Arizona Partnership for Immunization and funded by Maricopa County.
- The report found that bureaucratic hurdles and increased regulation made doctors less likely to want to participate in the program.
The latest: Earlier this year, the state health department rescinded one of its most criticized policies in hopes of attracting doctors back to the program.
- Humble said he's hopeful the change will lead to more VFC providers but is concerned that doctors have already lost too much trust in the state.
What we're watching: President-elect Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is one of the nation's most prominent vaccine skeptics.
- He could embolden more parents to skip school-required inoculations.
Plus, he may use his post to make it harder for new vaccines to get approved or to stop Medicare from covering existing vaccines, per Axios healthcare reporters Tina Reed and Adriel Bettelheim.