Arizona sees dramatic drop in kindergarten classes protected from measles
Glendale Landmark School in suburban Phoenix experienced the steepest vaccination rate decline in Arizona. The school went from having every student vaccinated in 2015 to just 46% of kindergartners vaccinated last school year. The Arizona Republic reports that a variety of factors led to the decline.
The Arizona Republic / AZCentral.com
Measles is a highly infectious disease that can immensely harm children — and the risk to kindergartners in Arizona is escalating.
Over the past decade, the number of schools whose kindergarteners are protected from an outbreak has dropped by half. Now, only one in three schools in the state has "herd immunity," or enough vaccinated children to stop the disease from spreading.
And among charter schools, the rate was even lower: Only 17% of those schools reached herd immunity last school year. At private schools, about 33% schools reached the benchmark; public district schools were the highest, but still just at 35%.
The problem isn't isolated to the Grand Canyon State: Kindergarten vaccination rates are down nationwide, but the rate here has even fallen below the national average. Misinformation campaigns stoking fear about vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to some of the widespread decline, but two factors specific to Arizona could explain why the state lags.
First: Arizona parents can easily opt out of vaccines for their children if they sign an exemption form acknowledging the risk of doing so. Only 15 other states allow vaccine exemptions for personal beliefs.
RELATED STORIES FROM THE INTEGRITY PROJECT