Childhood vaccination rates in Florida continue to decline, part of a national trend as misinformation spreads more widely and hesitancy increases, health experts said.
In the 2023-24 school year, 88.1% of kindergartners completed required vaccines that protect against severe illnesses, including measles, polio and chickenpox, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It鈥檚 one of the lowest rates in the nation, and it concerns physicians like Dr. Jennifer Takagishi, vice president of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Florida chapter and a professor at the University of South Florida.
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High vaccination rates are critical to preserve immunity in the population, she said, so that those who can鈥檛 get the shots are still protected. Those include people with medical issues or children who aren鈥檛 old enough to qualify for a specific dose.
Measles, for example, requires 95% of people to get vaccinated with two doses to maintain what鈥檚 known as herd immunity.
鈥淓ven in the last couple of years we're having more and more measles outbreaks because people are not meeting those recommendations,鈥� said Takagishi. 鈥淲e've seen them in Ohio and we had in the last year or two鈥�
Florida leads the Southeast in exemptions
The national average for all vaccines dropped to 92.3% of kindergarteners, while exemptions for one or more vaccines increased to 3.3% from 3%.
Exemptions in Florida were much higher, with 4.8% of kindergarteners in the state receiving exemptions, nearly all for nonmedical reasons. The state leads the Southeast in these exemptions.
Most patients at Dr. David Berger's Tampa practice, Wholistic Pediatrics & Family Care, do get the recommended childhood vaccines. But more parents are expressing concerns that the risks of side effects outweigh the benefits of protection, he said.
Berger talks to these parents about which vaccines he believes are 鈥渕ost relevant鈥� for their kids.
鈥淚f a family is choosing to take an alternative path, we talk about the ones that are more relevant that may be more helpful for the kids, like whooping cough,鈥� he said, which is also known as pertussis. 鈥淭here's more whooping cough around than all of these [childhood vaccine] diseases, and it's on the upswing. Whereas polio, unless you're traveling to Chad or Pakistan, you really have a low chance of getting exposed to polio.鈥�
Some of these deadly diseases are so rare in the U.S. because so many people were vaccinated against them in recent decades, said Takagishi.
鈥淏ut the more that we decrease our vaccines, the more they're going to increase,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ost of these diseases have been around for centuries, and they're very smart. They know how to outsmart us, and so the only protection we have for most of these is vaccination.鈥�
COVID and social media fueled hesitancy
Vaccine hesitancy has been around for a long time, said Takagishi, but she has noticed a surge since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vaccine skeptics, including some social media personalities, and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo advised people against getting the mRNA vaccines developed to protect against the coronavirus.
Misinformation spread rapidly, Takagishi said, and it鈥檚 helped fuel hesitancy about all immunizations. Allthough claims that the measles vaccine is linked to autism in children have been debunked, from the health research organization KFF found more than half of Americans expressed some uncertainty about whether the vaccine was more dangerous than the disease itself.
Evidence and other major health organizations show childhood vaccines are safe and effective, said Takagishi, who stressed it鈥檚 important for parents to talk about their concerns with pediatricians.
It鈥檚 also key that doctors don鈥檛 shame families for feeling uncertain about vaccines, said Berger, as it could drive them away from seeking health care in general.
鈥淚 do have a lot who are like, 鈥榊ou know what? I don鈥檛 know if I want to give all of those [recommended vaccines] at 2 months of age, can we split them up?鈥� or 鈥楬ey, I think these are more relevant; can we get these taken care of before we head into the other ones that I think are less relevant,鈥� so those types of things,鈥� Berger said.
Some pediatricians families who don't get their children vaccinated, which Berger calls a "misguided policy" that could cause kids to miss out on receiving preventative care from qualified sources.
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a to serve as Health and Human Services Secretary, and some pediatricians like Takagishi worry there could be changes to policies regarding vaccine requirements and increased hesitancy among the public.
The American Academy of Pediatrics will 鈥渃ontinue to follow the science,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 would hate for us to get back to a state where we are not having routine vaccinations and seeing people dying from diseases that we can prevent,鈥� said Takagishi.
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