The number of kindergarten students who received a vaccine exemption has reached an all-time high, a Nov. 10 CDC report found.
In the 2022-23 school year, the exemption rate increased 0.4 percentage points to 3%. Exemptions increased in 41 states, and 10 states — Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin — exceeded 5%. Idaho had the highest rate, at 12% of kindergartners receiving an exemption.
Vaccine coverage remained near 93% for all reported vaccines. Before the pandemic, the rate was consistently hovering around 95%, which is the immunity rate generally needed to protect against viral outbreaks.
The CDC report did not delve into the reasons for the increase in exemptions, but experts told NBC News the findings reflected Americans' growing unease about medicine in general.