New data from the CDC shows a record number of kindergartners received an exemption for required vaccinations during the 2023-2024 school year.
According to the data, over three percent of kindergartners had an exemption for at least once vaccine. The data shows a majority were exempt for nonmedical reasons. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a goal that at least 95% of children in kindergarten receive two doses of the measles vaccine. Last school year, the rate fell to 92.7%.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to discuss this issue. To schedule an interview with an expert, please contact Katelyn Deckelbaum at katelyn.deckelbaum@gwu.edu.
Michael Knight is an internal medicine physician and a clinical associate professor of medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Adriana Glenn is an assistant professor in the GW School of Nursing. She has 30 years of experience as a family nurse practitioner. Emily Smith, is an associate professor of global health and an expert in infectious diseases and epidemiology, at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. Smith has written about the importance of vaccines in preventing another surge of COVID and other infectious diseases.
Monika Goyal is an associate professor of pediatrics at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Ashley Darcy-Mahoney is a neonatal nurse practitioner, researcher, and educator. Throughout her career, she has been at the forefront of advancing nursing research, education, and practice, with a specific focus on neonatology, infant health, and developmental pediatrics.
Renèe Gentry is a Distinguished Professorial Lecturer in Law; Director, Vaccine Injury Litigation Clinic at the George Washington University Law School. She is one of the leading experts on vaccine injury litigation in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP).
(Newswise/PP)