School has started. Childhood vaccination rates are down; exemptions are up. Measles concerns are up. The governor is highlighting vaccination benefits. What’s going on?
In the past, Utah has been among the states with the highest rates in the nation for children entering kindergarten. Vaccination levels consistently exceeded the 95% threshold recommended by infectious disease experts to prevent community spread. However, by the 2023-24 school year, Utah’s immunization rate had declined to 88.8% — among the country’s lowest.
According to Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services, 73.5% of schools with kindergartens have vaccination rates below the recommended 95% threshold. Almost 47% of those schools have vaccination rates below 90%, when the likelihood of an outbreak increases to 51%. As vaccination levels decline, the outbreak potential increases sharply. Fortunately, Utah has had only 13 measles cases reported in 2025, despite outbreaks nationwide. However, as children return to school, just one infected child can ignite a measles outbreak in schools with low vaccination rates.
Why it matters
Childhood infectious diseases were a significant public health problem in the early to mid-1900s, impacting nearly every American household. In the pre-vaccine era (before 1963), 95% of the U.S. population contracted measles, reaching a peak of 763,094 cases and 552 deaths in 1958. Other infectious diseases, such as whooping cough, diphtheria, rubella, and polio, were also widespread. Following the introduction of vaccines, these diseases were virtually eliminated, representing one of the most significant achievements in the history of medicine and public health.
The effect of vaccine interventions
A study by the Centers for Disease Control concluded that for children born in the U.S. from 1994 to 2023, routine childhood vaccinations prevented approximately 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations and 1,129,000 deaths. A highly vaccinated population was among the primary factors contributing to the increase in life expectancy at birth from 47 years in 1900 to 77.5 years in 2022.
Maintaining high vaccination rates is essential for community-wide protection against childhood infectious diseases. The lower the rates, the greater the outbreak risk. Nearly all recent measles cases in this country involved unvaccinated individuals. Measles is highly contagious, and those infected can become very ill with secondary conditions. A measles outbreak in Utah would present a serious challenge to our healthcare system.
It’s also important to recognize that declining community protection significantly increases the risk for individuals who cannot be vaccinated because they are infants, elderly, pregnant or have weakened immune systems from conditions like cancer.
Why have vaccination rates in Utah declined so significantly?
The decline in school-age vaccinations reflects parental concerns about safety and increased parental requests for vaccine exemptions for their children. Currently, Utah has the country’s second-highest exemption request rate. This rise is linked to misleading rhetoric about vaccines. The politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a surge in misinformation about vaccines, which has influenced public perceptions of vaccine safety.
Are the required vaccines for children entering school safe?
Some have argued that the vaccine approval process is flawed, that current vaccines cause autism and other chronic diseases, and that clinical trials were not properly conducted. Such claims are not supported by credible research. Childhood vaccinations undergo extensive clinical trials before being made available to the public. The benefits of immunization greatly exceed the potential risks. The chance of adverse reactions from vaccines is similar to or lower than that of other commonly used medicines. Mandated school vaccinations are among the safest and most effective; they do not cause autism or other long-term conditions. One of the most convincing facts is that vaccines for childhood infectious diseases have been used for generations and have been safely given to millions of children.
Vaccines today provide a level of protection that past generations could only imagine. As a society, we have forgotten this. The decline in vaccination rates among children entering Utah schools is a significant public health concern that necessitates action. The safe and ethical method to achieve both individual and community immunity is through widespread vaccinations, a practice that Utah and the U.S. have endorsed since the early 1950s.
More information and supporting documentation are available in The Community Vaccine Forum’s report “The Impact of Declining Vaccination Rates for Children Entering School in Utah.”