re: #364 iossarian

To elaborate: who knows whether different states are compiling their figures in different ways (elementary school records, doctors/health systems etc.) and making different assumptions where data is missing. So attributing a specific number to a particular state has to be hedged a bit.

Having said that, the overall story that allowing easy access to exemptions results in lower vaccination rates is presumably true, and apparently confirmed by the data overall.

From a link in the article:

State and local vaccination requirements for school entry are implemented to maintain high vaccination coverage and protect schoolchildren from vaccine-preventable diseases (1). Each year, to assess state and national vaccination coverage and exemption levels among kindergartners, CDC analyzes school vaccination data collected by federally funded state, local, and territorial immunization programs. This report describes vaccination coverage in 49 states and the District of Columbia (DC) and vaccination exemption rates in 46 states and DC for children enrolled in kindergarten during the 2013-14 school year.

There’s lots more at:
cdc.gov