MLive: "Michigan schools see 12-year-high vaccine waiver rate. How covered is your kid’s school?". . .
NOTE: Searchable database is in the article.
Michigan schools see 12-year-high vaccine waiver rate. How covered is your kid’s school?
Published: Sep. 02, 2026, 7:59 a.m.
PIC CAPTION: Michigan's waiver rate has more than doubled in five years, with Michigan's chief medical executive citing politicization of vaccines and contradictory guidance as key factors. Pictured is a scene from the first day of school at Winchell Elementary School in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Monday, August 31, 2026. (Rachel Lewis | MLive.com)Rachel Lewis | rlewis@mlive.com
The rate of Michigan parents declining to get their children fully vaccinated for school, as recommended by health experts, reached a 12-year high during the 2025-26 school year.
About 7.1% of students in kindergarten and seventh grade, or who changed school districts, received an exemption due to medical, religious or philosophical reasons, according to state data made public Tuesday, Sept. 1.
As schools welcome back students, last year’s data shows that while the majority of K-12 students were up to date on the recommended shots -- 90% in public schools and 81% in private schools -- the share of students falling short of full immunization continues to rise.
Michigan’s waiver rate was 3.4% in 2020. It has climbed each year since, hitting 6.2% in 2024 before continuing its rise last year.
The state requires schoolchildren to have at least six vaccinations against communicable diseases, including measles, mumps, pertussis, and chickenpox. Requirements, based on guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, are for students entering kindergarten and seventh grade, as well as those entering a new school district.
However, Michigan is one of the most lenient states in allowing students to waive that requirement for medical, philosophical or religious reasons.
Of the approximately 24,600 Michigan students whose parents declined to get them vaccinated in 2025, 58% said it was for philosophical reasons, 39.4% called it a religious decision and 2.6% were for medical reasons.
That’s a slight shift toward more philosophical waivers and a decline in medical waivers.
Thousands of students returned to their classrooms in August for the 2026-27 school year. More will head back after Labor Day, Sept. 7, when Michigan law requires schools start barring a waiver.
Below is a searchable database showing 2025 vaccination and waiver rates by building.
Vaccine waiver rates declined in 2014 when Michigan added an education requirement to the process. Waiver rates fluctuated between 3% and 4% until the COVID-19 pandemic, when rates began climbing.
Some of the rise in waiver rates has been attributed to misinformation spread about vaccine safety and effectiveness during the pandemic. Public health officials have since increased outreach efforts and recruited primary care physicians and other trusted community voices to help provide resources defending the value of immunization to hesitant parents.
“This is what happens when vaccines become politicized and families are left confused by contradictory guidance,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive. “We are seeing the consequences in the resurgence of measles, mumps, pertussis and other preventable diseases – illnesses our parents and grandparents knew all too well and worked hard to protect future generations from.”
As of Aug. 27, the CDC was aware of 2,903 measles cases and 37 outbreaks across 47 states, including Michigan. It’s a 35-year high for a disease that was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 due to high vaccination levels.
Measles is one of the most transmissible diseases, capable of remaining in the air for hours after an infected person leaves a room. About one in five unvaccinated people who get measles is hospitalized, according to the CDC.
Of this year’s reported measles infections, 94% of those sickened were unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective in preventing measles infection, according to the CDC.
“What worries me most are the people who bear the greatest risk: infants who are too young to be vaccinated, individuals who can’t receive live vaccines because they’re pregnant and those who are more vulnerable due to age or treatments like chemotherapy,” Bagdasarian said. “These are the people who rely on the rest of us to keep community immunity strong.”
For more information, visit Michigan’s webpage on immunization information, or visit ivaccinate.org, a resource founded by Veronica Valentine McNally, who advocates for vaccination since her daughter died of pertussis in 2012.
Link: https://www.mlive.com/news/2026/09/michigan-schools-see-12-year-high-vaccine-waiver-rate-how-covered-is-your-kids-school.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter_morning_briefing%202026-09-03&utm_term=Newsletter_morning_briefing
Michigan schools see 12-year-high vaccine waiver rate. How covered is your kid’s school?
Published: Sep. 02, 2026, 7:59 a.m.
PIC CAPTION: Michigan's waiver rate has more than doubled in five years, with Michigan's chief medical executive citing politicization of vaccines and contradictory guidance as key factors. Pictured is a scene from the first day of school at Winchell Elementary School in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Monday, August 31, 2026. (Rachel Lewis | MLive.com)Rachel Lewis | rlewis@mlive.com
The rate of Michigan parents declining to get their children fully vaccinated for school, as recommended by health experts, reached a 12-year high during the 2025-26 school year.
About 7.1% of students in kindergarten and seventh grade, or who changed school districts, received an exemption due to medical, religious or philosophical reasons, according to state data made public Tuesday, Sept. 1.
As schools welcome back students, last year’s data shows that while the majority of K-12 students were up to date on the recommended shots -- 90% in public schools and 81% in private schools -- the share of students falling short of full immunization continues to rise.
Michigan’s waiver rate was 3.4% in 2020. It has climbed each year since, hitting 6.2% in 2024 before continuing its rise last year.
The state requires schoolchildren to have at least six vaccinations against communicable diseases, including measles, mumps, pertussis, and chickenpox. Requirements, based on guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, are for students entering kindergarten and seventh grade, as well as those entering a new school district.
However, Michigan is one of the most lenient states in allowing students to waive that requirement for medical, philosophical or religious reasons.
Of the approximately 24,600 Michigan students whose parents declined to get them vaccinated in 2025, 58% said it was for philosophical reasons, 39.4% called it a religious decision and 2.6% were for medical reasons.
That’s a slight shift toward more philosophical waivers and a decline in medical waivers.
Thousands of students returned to their classrooms in August for the 2026-27 school year. More will head back after Labor Day, Sept. 7, when Michigan law requires schools start barring a waiver.
Below is a searchable database showing 2025 vaccination and waiver rates by building.
Vaccine waiver rates declined in 2014 when Michigan added an education requirement to the process. Waiver rates fluctuated between 3% and 4% until the COVID-19 pandemic, when rates began climbing.
Some of the rise in waiver rates has been attributed to misinformation spread about vaccine safety and effectiveness during the pandemic. Public health officials have since increased outreach efforts and recruited primary care physicians and other trusted community voices to help provide resources defending the value of immunization to hesitant parents.
“This is what happens when vaccines become politicized and families are left confused by contradictory guidance,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive. “We are seeing the consequences in the resurgence of measles, mumps, pertussis and other preventable diseases – illnesses our parents and grandparents knew all too well and worked hard to protect future generations from.”
As of Aug. 27, the CDC was aware of 2,903 measles cases and 37 outbreaks across 47 states, including Michigan. It’s a 35-year high for a disease that was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 due to high vaccination levels.
Measles is one of the most transmissible diseases, capable of remaining in the air for hours after an infected person leaves a room. About one in five unvaccinated people who get measles is hospitalized, according to the CDC.
Of this year’s reported measles infections, 94% of those sickened were unvaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97% effective in preventing measles infection, according to the CDC.
“What worries me most are the people who bear the greatest risk: infants who are too young to be vaccinated, individuals who can’t receive live vaccines because they’re pregnant and those who are more vulnerable due to age or treatments like chemotherapy,” Bagdasarian said. “These are the people who rely on the rest of us to keep community immunity strong.”
For more information, visit Michigan’s webpage on immunization information, or visit ivaccinate.org, a resource founded by Veronica Valentine McNally, who advocates for vaccination since her daughter died of pertussis in 2012.
Link: https://www.mlive.com/news/2026/09/michigan-schools-see-12-year-high-vaccine-waiver-rate-how-covered-is-your-kids-school.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter_morning_briefing%202026-09-03&utm_term=Newsletter_morning_briefing
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