Vaccine opt-outs for Ark. kindergartners have almost tripled in the past 10 years
December 17, 2025 2:27 pm
The percentage of kindergarten students with a vaccine exemption reached another all-time high in Arkansas and across the U.S. in the 2024-25 school year, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows.
That’s according to a blog post this week from the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, which keeps track of vaccine uptake rates and CDC data. In the 2014-15 school year, 1.3% of Arkansas kindergarten students had exemptions from receiving vaccines. In 2024-25, a decade later, the rate was 3.6%.
The increase was driven entirely by non-medical exemptions, which make up only a tiny fraction of the total. Arkansas allows parents or guardians to claim an exemption for religious or philosophical reasons, and an increasing number of families are doing so.
The rise comes as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, who has promoted fringe ideas about the dangers of vaccines, continues chipping away at long-standing policy on immunizations. A federal committee voted earlier this month to drop a recommendation that all newborns be immunized against hepatitis B. Public health experts, including Arkansas members of the American Academy of Pediatrics, decried the change.
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https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/12/17/vaccine-opt-outs-for-ark-kindergartners-have-almost-tripled-in-the-past-10-years
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