Religion, politics drive Utah's high childhood vaccine exemption rate
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Utah has one of the nation's highest rates of childhood vaccine waivers, with immunization rates plummeting in the wake of the pandemic.
Why it matters: Utah's vaccination rates fall far below the 95% needed for herd immunity against highly contagious illnesses like measles.
The intrigue: Religious exemptions have accounted for the fastest-rising share of waivers since before the pandemic — even though religiosity in Utah has declined in recent years.
- Utah's dominant faith organization, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has encouraged vaccinations — to the chagrin of some conservative members.
- 13% of Utah's waivers last year were religious, up from 5.9% in 2019, per state data released in June. Meanwhile, 84.9% were for personal beliefs, down from 91.8% in 2019.
By the numbers: 9.3% of Utah's kindergartners obtained exemptions last fall for required vaccines like measles, whooping cough and polio, per state data.
- That's up from 8.1% in 2022, when Utah had the third-highest exemption rate of any state.
- Nationally, the median exemption rate in 2022 was 3.3%, according to the CDC.
Zoom out: Utah last year overtook the waiver rate in Oregon — one of the only states with a higher rate in 2022 and the site of a recent measles outbreak.
Catch up quick: A 2022 Axios analysis of Utah immunizations data by ZIP code showed exemptions after 2020 largely spiked in politically conservative areas.
The latest: Waivers since then largely bear that out, with exemption increases in each local health department from 2019 to 2023 roughly corresponding with former President Trump's margin of victory there in 2020.
Caveat: San Juan County is the biggest exception, with vaccine waiver rates rising from less than 2% to more than 6%, despite being firmly purple territory.
- Exemption rates remain exceptionally high in blue Summit County, though they're down slightly from 2019.
Zoom in: Waivers are most prolific in southwest Utah, where 15.6% of last year's kindergartners obtained exemptions.
The big picture: Anti-vax sentiments — once considered mostly the territory of liberal parents — found a lot of fuel on the right amid hostility toward COVID prevention measures.
- A Gallup poll this month found that 69% of respondents view childhood vaccines as "extremely" or "very" important, down from 94% in 2001, Axios' Tina Reed reports.
- Gallup attributed the drop-off to people who lean Republican, noting the percentage of that cohort saying childhood vaccinations were "extremely important" stood at 26% this year, compared with 62% in 2001.