Officials hopeful as Idaho immunization rates edge up for third straight year

Idaho’s childhood immunization numbers are up, reports Idaho EdNews, hitting a five-year high. Overall in 2015-2016, 86.7 percent of Idaho students were considered “adequately immunized,” up from 85.6 percent a year earlier. For public health officials who have been battling to boost Idaho’s lagging immunization rates, the improvement provides some glimmer of hope, writes EdNews reporter Kevin Richert; you can read his full report here .

In 2015-16, Idaho’s exemption rate – the percentage of parents who opted their children out of immunizations – dropped to 6.3 percent, down from a 6.5 percent number that was highest in the nation . The state Department of Health & Welfare launched a “Choose to Immunize” public awareness campaign in 2015, along with outreach to health care providers.

The department reports that immunization rates exceed its 90 percent target in urban school districts such as Boise, West Ada and Nampa, but are lower in many rural districts. It was the third straight year that statewide immunization rates rose.