By James Heider 

Writer/Reporter 

As schools statewide are back in session, some parents are concerned about their children getting sick. According to the CDC, about 13% of kindergarteners in Minnesota and Wisconsin were not up to date on standard childhood vaccinations, nearly double the percentage reported in 2016.

Minnesota schools require students to show documentation that they have received required immunizations or have an approved exemption. Required vaccines protect against measles, mumps and rubella, polio, chickenpox, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, commonly called whooping cough.

Parents and guardians may submit documentation for a medical exemption or an exemption based on conscientiously held beliefs. Roughly 7% of Minnesota kindergarteners have one of these exemptions.

The Minnesota Legislature considered Bill SF 445, which would have eliminated the conscientious-beliefs exemption for childhood vaccines. The bill did not receive a floor vote and died in committee.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, kindergarten vaccination coverage in Minnesota has dropped to about 86%. Minnesota is now among the states with the lowest kindergarten vaccination coverage nationwide, according to CDC-based reporting.

Public-health officials point to several possible contributors to lower vaccination coverage, including missed routine appointments, barriers to health care and vaccine hesitancy.

While some parents remain skeptical of newer vaccines, many childhood vaccines have been used for decades. The first U.S. polio vaccine was licensed in 1955, and widespread vaccination later ended continuous domestic transmission of polio in the United States.

Lower vaccination rates come as the United States faces a nationwide measles outbreak, with nearly 3,000 confirmed cases in 2026 as of late August. The debate over vaccine exemptions is likely to continue during future Minnesota legislative sessions.