Kindergarten vaccine exemptions are rising in the DMV
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The number of kindergarten students with vaccine exemptions in D.C., Maryland and Virginia increased during the 2023-24 school year compared with the previous one, per the latest CDC data.
Why it matters: The trend is a reflection of increased vaccine skepticism, which has lingered in some parenting corners for years but gained considerable steam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Driving the news: It's also happening as public health experts fear that President-elect Trump's choice of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the nation's health agencies will further sow public distrust in school vaccination requirements.
The big picture: This isn't just a local thing — the national share of kindergartners with exemptions for one or more vaccines increased to 3.3% in 2023-24, up from 3% the prior year.
- Compare that with 2013-14, when just 2.1% of U.S. kindergartners had vaccine exemptions.
State of play: 2.3% of D.C. kindergartners had medical or non-medical vaccine exemptions during the 2023-24 school year, per the CDC.
- That's up from 1.3% during the 2022-23 school year.
Meanwhile, 2.2% of Maryland kindergartners had vaccine exemptions, up from 1.9%.
- Virginia was at 2.4%, up from 2.2%.
The intrigue: Virginia's rate of vaccine exemptions for kindergartners has quadrupled over the last decade: It was only at 0.6% in the 2013-14 school year, per the CDC.
- And Maryland's has more than doubled from 1% in 2013-14, while theD.C. rate is up from 1.5% in that period.