AAP: End nonmedical vaccine exemptions  – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News

The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for the elimination of nonmedical exemptions for routine childhood vaccinations, according to an updated policy statement issued July 28. 

“Because medically recognized contraindications for specific individuals from specific vaccines exist, there continues to be a place for legitimate medical exemptions to immunization,” the authors wrote. “However, exempting children for nonmedical reasons from immunizations is problematic for medical, public health, and ethical reasons and creates unnecessary risk to both individuals and communities.” 

The AAP emphasized that rising exemption rates, uneven state laws, and clusters of unvaccinated children are undermining herd immunity and increasing the likelihood of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.

The policy statement comes amid the nation’s worst measles outbreak since 2000, when the disease was declared eliminated. There have been 1,133 confirmed cases in the U.S. as of July 29. The majority of cases have occurred in children and teens, according to CDC data. Ninety-two percent of cases occurred in unvaccinated individuals or those whose vaccination status is unknown. 

During the 2024-25 school year, exemptions for routine vaccinations among kindergartners in the U.S. rose to 3.6%, up from 3.3% the year prior, according to a CDC report. Overall, the vaccination rate among kindergartners fell from the year prior, ranging from 92.1% for the DTaP vaccine to 92.5% for the MMR vaccine. 

Community coverage, or herd immunity, is achieved when at least 95% of individuals in a community have been vaccinated.