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MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2017 Oct 13;66(40):1073-1080. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6640a3.
Vaccination Coverage for Selected Vaccines Exemption Rates and Provisional Enrolment Among Children in Kindergarten - United States 2016-17 School Year.
Seither R Calhoun K Street EJ Mellerson J Knighton CL Tippins A Underwood JM.
Abstract
State and local school vaccination requirements help protect students and communities against vaccine-preventable diseases (1). CDC reports vaccination coverage and exemption data for children attending kindergarten (kindergartners) collected by federally funded immunization programs in the United States.* The typical age range for kindergartners is 4-6 years. Although vaccination requirements vary by state (the District of Columbia [DC] is counted as a state in this report.) the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that children in this age range have received among other vaccinations 5 doses of diphtheria tetanus and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) 2 doses of measles mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and 2 doses of varicella vaccine (2). This report summarizes 2016-17 school year MMR DTaP and varicella vaccination coverage reported by immunization programs in 49 states exemptions in 50 states and kindergartners provisionally enrolled or within a grace period in 27 states. Median vaccination coverage† was 94.5% for the state-required number of doses of DTaP; 94.0% for 2 doses of MMR; and 93.8% for 2 doses of varicella vaccine. The median percentage of kindergartners with an exemption from at least one vaccine§ was 2.0% similar to 2015-16 (1.9%). Median grace period and provisional enrolment was 2.0%. Vaccination coverage remains consistently high and exemptions low at state and national levels. Local-level vaccination coverage data provide opportunities for immunization programs to identify schools districts counties or regions susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases and for schools to address under vaccination through implementation of existing state and local vaccination policies (1) to protect communities through increased coverage.