"Catch up quick: Plunging vaccination rates contributed to a spike in measles cases, and set the U.S. up to to lose its coveted elimination status for the first time in decades. Threat level: Only 815 counties have reached the herd immunity threshold of at least 95% of their students vaccinated, the data show. That threshold is the vaccination rate multiple public health authorities say is necessary to contain the virus' spread."
"The decline in childhood vaccination rates comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump have moved to overhaul U.S. policy regarding vaccine schedules. In September, Kennedy's advisers voted to shift how the combined measles, mumps and rubella shot is distributed to children. His handpicked advisory panel also voted to limit access to a combined shot for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, the virus that causes chickenpox. In December, that same panel voted to end the decades-old federal recommendation that all infants receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Soon after, Trump called on health officials to review all of the U.S. childhood vaccination recommendations, and to align them closer with other nations."
Vaccination rates among U.S. children have declined since the pandemic, contributing to a measles spike and putting the country's elimination status at risk. Only 815 counties have met the 95% herd immunity threshold, leaving at least 5.2 million kindergarten-age children living in counties below that level. Vaccination coverage was higher in New England states, Arkansas, California and Texas. Data availability varies by state, with some reporting 2023 and others 2024 figures, and some providing MMR-specific rates while others report overall vaccination rates. Federal vaccine policy has shifted as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump pursue changes to childhood vaccine schedules.
Read at Axios
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]