A small but growing proportion of young children are not receiving recommended vaccinations in the U.S., according to the CDC's most recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published Oct. 12.
For the report, the CDC analyzed local, state and national trends in vaccination coverage among children ages 19 months to 35 months using data from the 2017 National Immunization Survey.
Here are four report findings:
1. About 70 percent of children involved in the analysis received all their vaccinations.
2. The percentage of children under age 2 who have not received any vaccinations jumped from 0.9 percent for kids born in 2011 to 1.3 percent for those born in 2015. This figure has increased fourfold in the past 17 years.
3. Vaccination rates were lower in rural areas and among children who were either uninsured or covered by Medicaid.
4. The CDC cited the following strategies to help decrease vaccination disparities: increase use of the agency's Vaccines for Children program; reduce missed opportunities to vaccinate kids during physician visits, and limit interruption in health insurance coverage.
"Continued evaluation of prevalence and reasons for nonvaccination is needed, as are improvements in access to and delivery of age-appropriate vaccinations to all children," the CDC wrote in the report. "CDC continues to examine barriers to early childhood vaccination, including assessing obstacles to and parents' experiences with accessing vaccination services."
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