As Virginia's kindergarten vaccination rates rise, so do exemptions
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As kids head back to school, Virginia is bucking the nationwide trend of declining vaccination coverage among kindergarteners — but while coverage is increasing, exemptions are too.
Why it matters: A growing portion of families actively opting out of vaccines causes pockets of vulnerability that risk outbreaks, even with vaccination rates rising overall.
By the numbers: There were 84,335 kindergarteners in Virginia's public schools during the 2024–25 school year, per the state Department of Education.
- New CDC data shows that 2.7%, or about 2,277, had either medical or non-medical exemptions in that year.
- In the 2023–2024 school year, it was 2.2%.
- In 2014–15, it was 1.1%.
Zoom out: Virginia's exemption percentage for kindergarteners is lower than the national rate of 3.6% and U.S. parents still overwhelmingly support childhood vaccinations.
Meanwhile, Virginia's vaccination rate for kindergarteners steadily increased between fall 2023 and fall 2024 from 88.9% to 90.7%.
The big picture: There's a slew of factors for why parents get vaccine exemptions for their kids.
- An Axios review of Virginia Department of Health data found that Virginia parents largely seek them for religious reasons, which requires only a signed form. Medical ones need documentation from a licensed medical professional.
- Anti-vax sentiments, once considered a liberal trend, also gained ground among conservatives during the COVID pandemic.
- The top 10 elementary schools with the highest religious exemption rates for kindergartners in 2024–25 were all in counties that voted for President Trump, per an Axios review of VPAP data.
Zoom in: None are in the Richmond metro, but the state's second-lowest kindergarten vaccination rate was reported last fall at Henrico elementary school Fair Oaks.
- It's in a precinct that voted for Kamala Harris, and is near areas that went for Trump.
And while no Richmond-area school districts pass the 95% threshold generally accepted as high enough to make outbreaks unlikely, some individual schools do and Hanover is close.
- Some local elementary schools also have religious exemption rates higher than the state average.
Case in point: Hanover had the highest local vaccination coverage among kindergartners last fall at 94.9%. The school with the highest religious exemptions: 7.5% at Pole Green Elementary.
- Henrico: 92.7%, with a 6.2% religious exemption at Shady Grove.
- Richmond: 88.8%, 8.5% at Blackwell Elementary.
- Chesterfield: 86.3%, 8.3% Chesterfield Virtual School.