Routine childhood vaccinations among kindergartners declined in the 2021-2022 school year, contributing to a 2-percentage point decrease in vaccine coverage in this age group since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, CDC researchers found.

Among all U.S. kindergartners last year, approximately 93% received their measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) shot, the vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP), and the poliovirus and varicella vaccines, reported Ranee Seither, MPH, of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases in Atlanta, and colleagues.

Overall coverage for these immunizations has dropped 1 percentage point per year since 2019, with vaccination against all four illnesses declining in most states, Seither and colleagues wrote in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reportopens in a new tab or window.

“While this might not sound significant, it means nearly 250,000 kindergartners are potentially not protected against measles alone,” Georgina Peacock, MD, MPH, acting director of the CDC’s immunization services division, said at a press conference. “We know that measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination coverage is the lowest it has […]