Minnesota's kindergarten vaccination rate drops again
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Minnesota's kindergarten vaccination rates fell across the board during the 2025-26 school year, according to new CDC data released this week.
Why it matters: Minnesota is becoming one of the least-vaccinated states in the nation, with immunization rates among kids well below levels needed to curb outbreaks of preventable diseases.
The big picture: The CDC data show immunization rates fell nationwide, with more than 24 states — including Minnesota — reporting exemption rates rising above 5%.
- The dropoff coincides with the Trump administration's push for controversial vaccine policy changes and with measles cases hitting three-decade highs.
Zoom in: Last school year, Minnesota's kindergarten vaccination rate for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTaP) was worse than every state except Idaho.
- Only in Idaho and Wisconsin have smaller shares of kids received their polio; chickenpox; or measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines.
By the numbers: The vaccination rate in Minnesota for all these diseases is roughly 86%.
- Around 92% of Minnesota kindergarteners are immunized against hepatitis B.
Plus: The share of Minnesota kids receiving medical or "personal belief" exemptions rose to 6.9%, almost twice the pre-pandemic rate.
What they're saying: "Skepticism of vaccines has increased since the pandemic, despite an abundance of evidence demonstrating that they are safe," Ben Christianson, an epidemiologist in the Minnesota Department of Health's Vaccine Preventable Disease Unit, tells Axios.
- Also a factor: "Many families got behind during the pandemic and have not caught up," Christianson says.
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.
What we're watching: Capital Alpha Partners analyst Kim Monk wrote in a note Monday that any official vaccine scheduling recommendations or policy changes stemming from the order are expected to be challenged in court.
- "We think it's likely that providers and stakeholder groups will continue to ignore this advice," Monk wrote, "although these developments certainly don't help with ongoing vaccine hesitancy."
Go deeper: Kindergarten vaccine exemptions rose in 2025-2026: CDC