Kindergarten Vaccination Rates Decrease as Vaccine Exemptions Increase
New data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that vaccination rates among U.S. kindergartners averaged about 92 percent for the diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines and declined during the 2023-2024 school year, while the percentage of children with vaccine exemptions reached […]
Vaccination Exemption Rates Increased Among U.S. Kindergarteners in 40 States
A new report published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) states that during the 2022–2023 school year, vaccination coverage remained at 93 percent for all reported vaccines. However, the vaccine exemption rate increased 0.4 percentage points to three percent. Exemptions increased in 41 states, and […]
15-Month-Old Girl Dies Two Days After ‘Well-Baby Visit’ Vaccinations
A 15-month-old girl died in Warwick, New York on Oct. 19, 2023, two days after receiving three shots of five vaccines during a routine well-baby visit with a pediatrician at the Herbert Kania Pediatric Group. Melody Rain Palombi-Malmgren was a “perfectly healthy child,” according to her mother, Katherine Palombi. She was administered the varicella (chickenpox), […]
Study Shows Declining Childhood Vaccination Rates in U.S.
A study published recently in the journal Pediatrics showed that in 2019 more than one in six children in the United States aged 19 to 35 months old did not receive all of the doses of vaccines recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 The study examined the vaccination uptake rates […]
Childhood Vaccination Programs Face Major Cuts in Federal Funding
State vaccination programs for children will face a reduction in funding from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grants. The federal immunization grant program, which funds the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, totaled approximately $680 million last year.1 The reduction in funding is alleged to be due to the debt ceiling deal reached […]
Flu Vaccination Associated With Increased Viral Shedding
Opinion | When your body is infected with a disease-causing virus such as influenza, the virus is “shed” into the environment, via your saliva and other bodily fluids and skin lesions. If someone comes in contact with that shed virus, it’s possible that they, too, will become infected with the virus. There’s still a lot of […]