A sad irony of the modern age is that, not so many years after science miraculously engineered immunizations against dreaded diseases, a growing number of people are refusing them. Worse, parents are refusing them for their children.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that vaccinations for kindergartners nationwide fell during the 2023-24 school year for all types of vaccines. The percentage of children receiving immunizations ranged from 92.3% for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis to 92.7% for measles, mumps and rubella.
While those figures may seem comfortably high, they are not.
Health officials say a rate of 95% is needed in order to prevent a single infection from becoming a dangerous outbreak.
As KSL reported last month, vaccination rates are dropping in Utah, as well. Meanwhile, measles, a disease once considered eradicated, has begun to surge again in various U.S. locations, such as Oregon.
Statistics from immunize.utah.gov show that only 87% of Utah kindergartners were adequately immunized during the last full school year. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure was at 90%. The percentage of students seeking exemptions from shots has gone from 5% before the pandemic to 7.9% today.