Minnesota kindergartners have third lowest measles vaccination rate in U.S.

As kids start looking ahead to the new school year, health officials are looking at new immunization data – and it’s showing rates have continued to fall over the last year especially in Minnesota. Kindergartners in our state have the second and third lowest vaccination levels in the country for DTaP and MMR, respectively, at 86 percent for both. These two vaccines are combination shots that protect against a myriad of diseases like whooping cough and measles. Minnesota also has one of the highest exemption rates at 6.9 percent. Dr. Andrea Singh, chair of pediatrics at HealthPartners and Park Nicollet, joined Minnesota Now to talk through what these ongoing trends mean.