New childhood vaccination data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that Georgia vaccination rates are decreasing, with 86.8% of the state’s children fully up-to-date on their required vaccines when they entered kindergarten last year.
The state’s exemption rate is also on the rise, at 4.8%, with most granted for religious rather than medical reasons. But that’s not the whole story. Some public health experts say the remainder of unvaccinated children likely includes some who weren’t able to access the shots. It’s hard to know for sure because data released by the state Department of Public Health is limited.
The falling vaccination rates raise concerns as children return to school this week, and the United States sees the highest number of measles cases since the early 1990s, according to CDC data. Georgia has reported six measles cases this year, all in unvaccinated people. Those cases were contained to members of two families.
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