Nearly 9% of Arizona’s new cohort of students, about 6,400 children, have vaccine exemptions and nearly all of them are for non-medical reasons. That is the fifth highest rate in the country, following Idaho, Alaska, Utah and Oregon. . Will Humble with the Arizona Public Health Association says it’s one of the worst rates in the country.
“What it means is that Arizona school kids are no longer protected,” he says. “Bottom line is we're at much higher risk than most other states of having a cascade of measles cases that would be really hard to slow down or stop, because our vaccination rate is so low, especially in certain parts of the state.”
Counties throughout the state vary on exemption rates. The county with the highest personal exemption rate for at least some vaccines for kindergarteners is Yavapai County at nearly 22%. The lowest is Santa Cruz County at close to 3%. Pima County’s personal exemption rate is more than 5%.
Humble says the biggest reason for the low rate is the policy that allows for personal exemptions.
“But we could change that in a heartbeat this legislative session by just passing a bill that says, ‘Yes, you couldn't get a medical exemption if your kid can't get vaccinated, but unless there's a medical reason why you can't vaccinate your kid, then your kid needs to be vaccinated before they go to school,’” he says. “And our immunization rates would go up substantially.”
He says other reasons include varying anti-vax sentiments across the state, and vaccine programs that are not accessible enough.
