Arizona vaccine exemptions hit record high amid measles outbreak
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Vaccination rates among kindergartners in Arizona decreased during the 2025–2026 school year for all tracked vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday, while vaccine exemptions rose to their highest rate since at least 2012.
Why it matters: The drop-off coincided with continued efforts by the Trump administration to make controversial vaccine policy changes and with measles cases in Arizona hitting levels not seen in at least two decades.
By the numbers: Coverage with the diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP) and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines bottomed out at 87.4% for each. Public health officials say overall measles vaccination rates should remain above 95% to maintain herd immunity.
- 10.6% of kindergarteners — roughly 74,000 kids — obtained an exemption from at least one vaccine the last school year, the third-highest exemption rate for any state.
- The vast majority of those exemptions were for non-medical reasons.
Context: In Arizona, parents can claim exemptions for medical, religious and personal reasons.
State of play: At the same time that Arizona's vaccination rates are dropping, the state is in the midst of its biggest measles outbreak in years.
- Arizona has seen 344 measles cases since the start of 2025, most of them concentrated in the vaccine-averse former polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enclave of Colorado City in the northern reaches of the state.
- Maricopa County has also seen 27 positive measles cases this year, the most in the county since at least 2006.
- Since 2025, 27 people in the state have been hospitalized due to measles. None have died.
What they're saying: Vaccine advocates in the state found the exemption spike concerning.
- “My main takeaway is, this is really disappointing, but I’m not surprised,” Arizona Public Health Association executive director Will Humble told Arizona's Family.
- The Arizona Department of Health Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Axios.
Between the lines: Polling shows childhood vaccines remain popular, but administration efforts to upend longstanding vaccine policies could further erode trust in vaccines and public health, medical experts say.
- President Trump last week signed an executive order calling for a slimmed-down childhood vaccine schedule and breaking the MMR vaccine into three separately administered shots.
- It also advises states to review federal vaccine recommendations and update their requirements for school enrollment.
Yes, but: Vaccine scheduling recommendations or policy changes stemming from the order are expected to be challenged in court.