Vaccine exemptions for Virginia kindergartners rise as vaccination rates decline
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The percentage of kindergartners in Virginia with vaccine exemptions quadrupled in the past 10 years, per the most recent CDC data.
Why it matters: Vaccination rates keep falling, which leaves the population more vulnerable to outbreaks as more parents opt out of the shots for measles, chicken pox, and whooping cough — among others — using mostly religious exemptions.
Driving the news: It's also happening as public health experts fear that President-elect Trump picking vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. to lead the nation's health agencies will only further sow public distrust in school vaccination requirements.
The big picture: There were 85,374 kindergarteners in Virginia's public schools during the 2023-24 school year, per the state's Department of Education.
- CDC data shows that 2.4%, or about 2,050, had either medical or non-medical exemptions in 2024. In 2014, it was 0.6%.
- Last year, it was 2.2%.
Between the lines: Virginia's exemption percentage for kindergarteners is lower than the national average of 3.3% and U.S. parents still overwhelmingly support childhood vaccinations.
Yes, but: An Axios review of Virginia Department of Health data found that the exemption rates per public school last fall were largely for religious reasons, and some schools' rates far exceed the state's overall average.
- The highest was a 26.7% religious exemption rate in a Floyd County elementary school.
- Getting a religious exemption is technically easier than a medical one since it only requires a parent or student signing a form saying that vaccinations interfere with their religious beliefs.
Meanwhile, as exemption rates go up, Virginia's vaccination coverage among kindergarteners is moving farther and farther away from the 95% threshold generally accepted as high enough to make outbreaks unlikely.
- Virginia Department of Health data showed a steady decline from 94.4% of kindergarteners vaccinated in 2015 to 88.6% in 2021.
- Last fall, the state was at 88.9%.
Zoom in: None of the Richmond-area school districts pass the 95% threshold, though some individual schools do. Some schools also have higher-than-usual religious exemption rates.
- Chesterfield: 83.3%, 4.2% religious exemption at C.C. Wells.
- Richmond: 88.7%, 7.1% at Fairfield Court.
- Hanover: 92.9%, 6.9% at Beaverdam.
- Henrico: 93.3%, 6.9% at George F. Baker.
The bottom line: There's a slew of factors for why childhood vaccination rates are declining, but they're dipping as the share of kids with exemptions is at an all-time high.
Go deeper: Oregon's measles outbreak highlights state's high vaccine exemption rate