Vaccination rates drop to 10-year low for Michigan’s school–age children

For context, the share of school-aged children in Michigan skipping regularly scheduled shots is at its highest level in 10 years, raising fresh questions regarding state rules on vaccine exemption waivers in the post-pandemic era.

What happened

In practice, the rate of school immunization waivers climbed to 7.1% last year, up from 6.2% in 2024, the latest in a five-year streak of worsening vaccine participation. The period is marked by the onset of COVID-19 and a schism in federal recommendations and evidence-based guidance.

When 8.6% of all students in state schools obtained permission to miss at least some of the routine slate of shots long recommended by the medical community as a safe and effective means to protect against deadly infectious diseases like whooping cough and measles, the latest state data represents the highest exemption rates since 2010.

"Schools are locations where a lot of children are together, " remarked Abram Wagner, an epidemiologist with the University of Michigan School of Public Health who researches vaccine programs. "It can be very easy to spread vaccine-preventable diseases there, and especially for schools which have high rates of waivers. It's just much easier to spread these infectious diseases."

The bottom line

In short, vaccination rates drop to 10-year low for Michigan's school is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.