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Vaccines required for kindergarteners in Michigan.(WNEM)<\/p>\nSAGINAW, Mich. (WNEM) –<\/b> New data shows the number of parents opting for vaccine waivers for their children is higher than its been in over a decade.<\/p>\n
All of this comes when measles outbreaks have been happening across the country.<\/p>\n
Some counties in the TV5 viewing area have the highest vaccination waiver rates in the state for immunizations that have been required for children for decades.<\/p>\n
Before a child can start kindergarten, they are required by Michigan law to receive these vaccines, including two shots for measles, mumps, and rubella, also known as MMR.<\/p>\n
Vaccines required for kindergarteners in Michigan.(WNEM)<\/p>\n
\u201c20% of kids with measles actually end up being admitted to the hospital,\u201d said Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive, for the State of Michigan, and an infectious disease doctor and epidemiologist.<\/p>\n
Two shots for varicella, also called chickenpox, and the polio vaccine are also required.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is an outbreak of chicken pox in the school, and children are not vaccinated, they are excluded from school until 21 days after the last case. So it can be way more than 21 days if there are a number of cases. Excluding kids from school is not a good thing, but unfortunately, that is the way we control an outbreak when we have a population that is not vaccinated,\u201d said Catherine Bodnar, Medical Director for the Midland County Department of Public Health. \u201cTo know that vaccines can be preventive, it is just so powerful, and we don\u2019t see diseases like polio anymore, which, when i was a child, was very common because of vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time a student reaches the seventh grade, by law, they are required to get these vaccines.<\/p>\n
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Vaccines required for 7th graders in Michigan.(WNEM)<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are given at certain ages because we know that\u2019s when you amount the best immune response and we have the greatest chance at protecting you against these diseases,\u201d said Bagdasarian. <\/p>\n
But parents don\u2019t have to get their child vaccinated if they get a waiver.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe wavier rules in Michigan are very lenient,\u201d Bagdasarian said. \u201cSo people can get waivers for medical reasons, for religious reasons or for personal\/philosophical reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waivers are available through your local health department. <\/p>\n
From 2015 to 2020, waiver rates were around 3%.<\/p>\n
In 2021, they jumped to just over 4% and have been increasing ever since.<\/p>\n
For the 2024 to 2025 school year, the waiver rate hit 6.2%, the highest since 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe non-medical waiver is typically for personal preference reasons, and that is what we see increasing,\u201d Bodnar said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know I think everyone has the right to make their own health decisions and decisions for their family, but what i am worried about is that folks aren\u2019t getting the best information in order to make these decisions and our job is to make sure people are armed with the best information possibly so they can make the right decisions for themselves and their families,\u201d said Bagdasarian.<\/p>\n
TV5 broke down data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n
The blue line shows waiver rates for 2023, and the orange is 2025. For most counties in mid-Michigan, there has been an increase in waivers over the last few years.<\/p>\n
Lapeer County has the highest percentage with just over 14%, followed by Huron County with about 11%.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things we sometimes deal with in public health is we are so successful in eliminating certain diseases that people don\u2019t see them anymore and they don\u2019t really remember how terrible these diseases were,\u201d Bagdasarian said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut with vaccination we eliminated measles, and unfortunately, this year, we are seeing way more measles than we\u2019ve seen in a couple of decades,\u201d said Bodnar.<\/p>\n
In Michigan this year, there have been more than 25 measles cases reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cI anticipate that things will continue on this way so long as those vaccination rates remain low,\u201d Bagdasarian said. \u201cMeasles is one of the most transmissible diseases that we have in the world. It is so transmissible that you can contract measles if someone has been in a room two hours before you with measles and then left.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said if 95% of a community has been vaccinated for MMR, they\u2019re considered to have herd immunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know a single dose of the vaccine gives you 93% immunity and two doses of the vaccine gives you 97% immunity. That doesn\u2019t mean that this vaccine will just prevent the severe cases. That means that 97% of the time it will prevent all cases of measles,\u201d Bagdasarian said. <\/p>\n
More data from MDHHS shows not one county in the TV5 viewing area, or even the state, has hit at least 95% of 13 to 17-year-olds with their MMR vaccinations.<\/p>\n
In mid-Michigan, Arenac and Gratiot counties are the closest, with both around 91%.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to protecting our children, we\u2019re protecting the rest of our community because some people aren\u2019t able to get vaccinated either because they\u2019re not old enough yet, or they may have some medical conditions, so it really protects everybody,\u201d said Bodnar. <\/p>\n
If you have questions about vaccines, both doctors recommend talking to your health care provider.<\/p>\n
\u201cI make sure my own family is immunized and I have no financial incentives for people to get vaccinated,\u201d Bagdasarian said. \u201cI have no ties with any pharmaceutical companies, the majority of doctors that I speak with, we are talking about vaccines, not because of any financial ties, but because this is a tool that is life saving, and we have seen what can happen when these tools aren\u2019t used.\u201d <\/p>\n
All U.S. states currently have vaccination requirements to attend schools, but their exceptions vary.<\/p>\n
Florida is the only state that is planning to end all mandates for school vaccinations.<\/p>\n