Ahead of the new school year in Maryland in the Washington D.C. area, education and health authorities are on high alert as measles vaccination rates among incoming kindergarteners have declined and exemption requests have increased.
Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright expressed deep concern over the declining measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates among kindergarteners during a recent press briefing, emphasizing, "Measles is a disease that can lead to fatal consequences, so a drop in vaccination rates is a very concerning sign." Superintendent Wright stated that the state department of education and the health department will closely monitor students' vaccination status in time for the back-to-school season.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the nationwide MMR vaccination rate for kindergarteners dropped to 92.4% for the 2025-2026 school year, down from 92.5% in the previous school year. In contrast, the exemption rate for medical or religious reasons rose from 3.6% to 4.2%.
In Maryland, a survey of all 65,469 enrolled kindergarteners for the 2025-2026 school year showed an MMR vaccination rate of 96.7%, a slight increase from the previous year's 96.4% and above the herd immunity threshold. However, the vaccine exemption rate also increased from 2.2% the previous year to 2.5%, with the majority of exemption requests cited as being for religious reasons.
Currently, there are a total of 17 confirmed measles cases in Maryland, while 2,566 measles infections have been confirmed nationwide, breaking the record for the highest number of cases in 35 years.
Meanwhile, although the federal government issued an executive order reducing the number of mandatory childhood vaccines from 18 to 11, the Maryland Department of Health made it clear that it plans to maintain the state's existing mandatory childhood immunization schedule and regulations as they are without change.