Child vaccination rates fall nationwide
The gist
An NBC News/Stanford analysis found 83% of US counties and jurisdictions have seen childhood vaccination declines.
Measles cases have surpassed 5,000 this year, the highest since 1991.
How it unfolded
- Sep 18, 2025An NBC News data investigation found 77% of U.S. counties and jurisdictions reported notable declines in childhood vaccination rates since 2019.
- Jan 2026The CDC overhauled its childhood immunization schedule, dropping recommendations for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, meningitis, RSV and rotavirus; recommended immunizations fell to 11 from 17 in 2025.
- Oct 30, 2026Johns Hopkins University data showed 5,051 measles cases nationwide so far this year, surpassing all of 2025 and the highest annual total since 1991.
Key terms
- measles elimination status
- Official designation that a disease has stopped spreading continuously within a country, though reintroductions can still occur.
- herd immunity threshold
- Indirect protection of a population when enough people are immune to a contagious disease, limiting its spread.
- MMR
- A combination vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella.
Source: Wikipedia