New data show childhood vaccination rates remain flat across WA

OLYMPIA, Wash. – New data from the Washington State Department of Health show childhood vaccination rates remain flat. 

The data come from K-12 students who were enrolled in Washington schools during the 2021-2022 school year. 

The DOH says several key points were collected, including: 

• Washington state’s K-12 immunization completion rate for the 2021-22 school year was 91.7 percent. This rate has remained steady for the last two years. 
• After the implementation of House Bill 1638 in 2019, kindergartener vaccination rates for MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) rose from 90.8% in the 2019-2020 school year to 94.4% in the 2020-2021 school year.
• The data show the number of students with at least one personal vaccine exemption is going down, while the number of students with at least one religious membership exemption is going up.

“Vaccines remain the single most important public health strategy for keeping communities safe from many communicable diseases that can lead to disability and death,” says Jamilia Sherls-Jones, Director of the Office of Immunization. “We review vaccine data to monitor trends, identify opportunities for improving completion rates, and recognize gains.”

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