During the 2023-2024 school year, vaccination among kindergartners in the United States decreased for all reported vaccines compared to the year before, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
But the decrease in coverage goes far beyond COVID-19, applying to diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (DTaP) and old-school woes like measles, mumps and rubella.
By Nov. 21, the CDC had reported that there have been 280 cases of measles in the U.S. in 2024, with 116 of those cases occurring in children younger than 5 years of age.
Some of the most common questions from parents in online forums were about the safety of ingredients, the number of vaccines recommended for infants and what side effects were possible. We reached out to four of these parents—two declined to comment and two did not respond before press time.
While there is no consensus on what has caused the recent decline in vaccination rates, some public health officials attribute misinformation and controversy about COVID-19 vaccines as a possible cause.
That and public opinion on vaccine requirements becoming increasingly partisan contributed in part to the kindergarten vaccination dip, according to an analysis by KFF, an independent nonprofit focused on health policy research, polling and journalism.
Parents want to make sure they’re doing right by their children and not exposing them to avoidable harm—but with access to more information than ever, it can be challenging to listen through the noise and make an informed decision.
Dr. Ernest Carter, director of health equity, research and innovation at Kennedy Krieger Institute, says asking questions is normal.
“In any nation, everybody should always question when somebody’s putting something in your body that is naturally not there. At the very beginning, you have to question that,” he says.
According to Carter, when you understand and you trust the people who are giving it to you, then it’s time to move forward.
Despite the recent dip, there had been a 345% increase in COVID-19 vaccinations overall and a 512% increase in those vaccinations among non-English speakers in Prince George’s County (where Carter served as health officer for the county’s Department of Health from 2019 through 2022) thanks to the Health Literacy Enhancement and Advancement Program (Health LEAP).
These statistics were noted in research co-authored by Carter and published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. Through his research, Carter highlighted the importance of trust, community involvement and conversation between healthcare providers and the communities they serve.
Carter says his team conducted focus groups to learn what people in the community thought about vaccination and what kinds of questions they had. These groups showed a lot of people had misconceptions about how vaccination works, what’s in a vaccine and where to find reliable information.
Some common vaccine myths include that vaccines cause autism (or cause the diseases they are meant to prevent) are not effective or affect only the child receiving them, according to an article by Rush, an Illinois-based medical system.
It’s when the number of vaccinated people drops below what is needed to support herd immunity that Rush notes diseases that were nearly eradicated can resurface, as noted in Rush’s “8 Myths About Vaccines and Kids.”
According to Carter, while the CDC is the ultimate public health resource, parents can turn to local public health departments, which tailor that information to their communities and the needs of the local population.
We compiled a short list of the most asked questions parents have about vaccination from local parenting spaces, online community forums and vaccination research. Here’s what Carter had to say in response to each of them.
Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Are the ingredients safe?
As a pediatrician, one of the things that I hope parents believe is that pediatricians are basically people who will do everything in the world not to harm their patients. So, if there is a harmful ingredient in a vaccine or something, then the pediatrician will refuse to do that.
What we learned as pediatricians is that vaccines have saved so many children’s lives. Pediatricians see vaccines as an incredible lifesaver, and they make sure that… vaccines go through the rigorous FDA approval and all the people who sit on those panels share a passion for making sure that those ingredients don’t go on to harm.
Are vaccines effective?
This is like any other medicine. Medicine is not 100%. We don’t have 100% cures. Even if a vaccine is not completely effective, the protection it offers is worthwhile. I would explain to the parents that if [vaccines] have a 50% chance of helping your child, I wanna give it.
What are the side effects of vaccination?
There are side effects to almost anything you put in your body. That’s why they do clinical trials and look to see if these ingredients could cause harm. Through clinical trials, we understand the side effects, and [that] should be explained to the parents.
