Leadership for Healthy People and Communities

11/18/2023

Kindergarten vaccine exemptions continue to climb, Ohio above average

CDC: Kindergarten vaccine exemptions continue to climb, Ohio above average

The Centers for Disease Control said the rate of kindergarteners exempted from school vaccinations has hit the highest level ever at a national average of 3% in the 2022-2023 school year – up from 2.6% (Source: “CDC reports increase in kindergarten vaccine exemptions, Ohio is above the national average,” WOSU, Nov. 10).
 
Ohio’s exemption rate is just above the national average at 3.8%, which is up 0.8% from the 2021-2022 school year.
 
Ohio law allows students to be exempted from vaccines for medical reasons or “reasons of conscious,” which include religious reasons. The CDC estimates about 89% of Ohio's nearly 134,900 kindergarteners are fully vaccinated for diphtheria, tetanus, polio and measles, mumps and rubella. Some others are partially vaccinated or in a vaccination grace period. The national average for full vaccination is about 93% – slightly lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic, when the national vaccination rate was at 95% in the 2019-2020 school year.