Child Vaccination Rates Have Dropped, CDC Says

By Sarah Toy of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Rates of routine immunization have declined among young children, federal researchers said, in part because of disruptions in healthcare access during the Covid pandemic."

"Researchers found that overall vaccination rates fell to 93% in the 2021-2022 school year from 94% during the 2020-2021 school year. In 2019-2020, when children were vaccinated before the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccination coverage was 95%, the researchers said."

"During a measles outbreak in Ohio last month that infected more than 80 children, 32 of whom were hospitalized, all the infections were among unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children."

"routine vaccination fell by 4 to 5 percentage points among children living below the federal poverty line or in rural areas who were born during 2018 and 2019."