New data paints a clearer picture of where vaccination rates for children stand in D.C., Maryland and Virginia – and where more parents have opted their children out of vaccines in recent years.
D.C. hit a major milestone, reaching its highest measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine rate in five years, with 93% of kindergarteners vaccinated. That represents one of the highest surges in vaccinations in the nation, with a 14-point jump since 2019.
The D.C. Health Department says it boosted vaccination rates by reaching out to parents through robocalls and mailers and bringing vaccines to families through mobile health units, school clinics, pharmacies and urgent-care centers.
But vaccine exemptions in D.C. are on the rise too, from 0.43% in 2019 to 2.71% last school year, over five times higher than before.
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The project found that 77% of counties and jurisdictions in the U.S. have seen a drop in their vaccination rates since 2019. Vaccine exemptions have increased, with 53% of counties reporting exemption rates of more than double from their first year of data collection to their most recent.
While MMR vaccination rates are increasing in D.C., Alexandria saw a dramatic decrease from 95% in 2019 to only 88% last year. That’s well below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity to prevent a measles outbreak and stop the disease from spreading in a community.
The News4 I-Team reached out to the Alexandria Health Department. They said they don’t have a “single, clear explanation for the decline in public school immunization rates” and said they are “closely monitoring trends and partnering with [the school district] to take a deeper look at the data to better understand the changes.”
Alexandria is an outlier in our region. Other parts of Northern Virginia are at 90% and higher with their vaccination rates, with 96% in Fairfax County, 96% in Prince William County, 97% in Loudoun County and 98% in Arlington County.
The same is true in Maryland, at 95% in Prince George’s County and 97% in Montgomery County for MMR vaccinations. The jump in Montgomery County is significant, after it fell to 63% in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. William Moss of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health explained why the early vaccination numbers matter.
“We could slip if there’s enough vaccine skepticism or hesitancy, which I don’t expect in Maryland at a large scale. But we are seeing undermining of public trust in vaccines in general, and the measles vaccine in particular,” he said. “One could imagine a scenario where fewer and fewer children are getting vaccinated, particularly in some communities, and then those communities are going to be at higher risk for an outbreak.”
Educating people about vaccines is an ongoing effort, Moss said.
“This is something you have to continually work on. This isn’t a one-off thing where you achieve high measles vaccine coverage, you’re good to go. Because there are continued children being born and growing up in the United States everywhere, and they are susceptible to measles until they get vaccinated.”
We’re already seeing real-world consequences. This year, measles cases in the U.S. have reached their highest level in over three decades. Three people have died, and more than 1,400 have gotten sick.
At the same time, the political landscape around vaccines is shifting. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and is overhauling the panel that decides which vaccines are recommended for Americans.
Now, some public health leaders and politicians fear his anti-vaccine views are influencing policy. Florida became the first state to announce plans to end all vaccine mandates – a move critics warn could cost lives.
In response, Democratic-led states like Washington, California, and Oregon are forming their own health alliance, working together to coordinate vaccine guidance independent of the federal government.
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