According to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood vaccination rates fell across the country for the second year in a row, resulting in thousands of kids being vulnerable to preventable diseases.
The CDC data showed that 93% of children entering kindergarten during the 2021-22 school year were fully vaccinated, a 1% drop from the previous school year. The shots in question are to protect against numerous diseases, including polio, tetanus, measles, chickenpox, and more.
Before the pandemic, in the fall of 2019, the number of kindergarteners fully vaccinated was 95%.
During a CDC-led press conference on Thursday, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases chair, Sean O’Leary, shared that the numbers were “alarming.”
“We’re still trying to understand the extent to which misinformation around Covid vaccines has spread to misinformation about other childhood vaccines,” O’Leary said.
While O’Leary pointed to misinformation playing a large part in the falling rates, he also acknowledged missed doctors appointments during the pandemic did play some role in kids being behind on shots.
In December, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky shared that vaccine misinformation was a massive threat to public health.
“As I think about the challenges that we have to public health, vaccine misinformation is among the biggest threats,” she said, speaking with NBC News.
The CDC’s Immunization Services Division Director Georgina Peacock echoed the same sentiment during last week's press conference, saying the agency is watching misinformation very closely.
Among the shots to contribute to the falling rate was the measles, mumps, and rubella shot, often given together in the MMR. The CDC says this means nearly 250,000 kindergartners were left defenseless against measles, often referred to as the most contagious virus in the world.
“Measles, mumps and rubella vaccination coverage for kindergarteners is the lowest it has been in over a decade,” Peacock said.
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