Kindergarten vaccine rates in Idaho appear to have fallen from year prior

Yahoo

17-05-2025

May 17—Idaho continues to report some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
This past school year, data submitted in the fall showed that, on average, 70% of Idaho kindergartners had received all their recommended vaccinations, according to a report released by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
That's a drop from an average of 76% among kindergartners the same time the year before, and well below the 95% recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure herd immunity.
More than 14% of kindergartners statewide had recorded vaccine exemptions, which is the same as last year's rate. However, that doesn't mean all other students are up to date, said Shawn Tiegs, Superintendent at the Moscow School District.
In his district, about 7.4% of kindergartners have a vaccine exemption.
"You're in the 93% range for nonwaiver kids, that doesn't guarantee they're all vaccinated," he said.
Some students may not have records of being up-to-date on vaccines but have not actively sought an exemption, he said. The school district works to provide vaccine information for those individuals, he said.
Tiegs, who previously worked at the Nezperce School District before coming to Moscow, said he feels conversations around vaccines have become more polarized. But, he said, public schools are there to serve everybody regardless of political leanings.
"I mean, in this environment, we can always find someone that agrees with what we think. Like, I can do the same thing," he said. "And then it can become pretty easy to get kind of rigid and say like, 'well, no, I heard somebody saying something I agree with.' "
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While Tiegs' district remains on the high end of vaccination for Idaho, some other local schools in the health district vary widely. In the North Central Health District, kindergartner vaccine exemptions varied anywhere from 28.2% in Idaho county, to 10.4% in Nez Perce county.
There was also a wide range of variance on a school-by-school basis.
Kamiah reported that 9.5% of its kindergartners had an exemption. Some schools in the health district shared their numbers, but asked to not be named because the information would be identifying based on the size of their class.
One school reported zero exemptions. Another reported 25%. Some had a specific exemption for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Idaho law allows a broad range of reasons for vaccine exemptions in school, including health, religion or "other grounds." Exemptions are also extremely easy to acquire in Idaho, Tiegs said, and lacking vaccine records doesn't prevent students from being enrolled in school
"We do have an official (vaccine exemption) form. But Idaho law requires that an exemption — I mean, it could be written on the back of a receipt, or a half torn piece of paper or something," he said.
So far, Tiegs said, he hasn't heard about any local measles outbreaks. If there was one, the school has the legal authority to prevent unvaccinated children from attending.
But that's never happened that he's aware of, and it's probably even less likely today than years past.
" I don't know, in today's environment — talking as a superintendent — that you would go down that path," he said. "I think you're probably more likely to say we're closing school because of overall spread."
Sun may be contacted at [e-mail] or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.