Idaho ranks last in kindergartners known to have measles vaccine, report says
BOISE – One out of every five kindergartners in Idaho during the 2023-2024 school year had no record of receiving the measles vaccine, making Idaho the state with the lowest rate of reported vaccines in the country against the highly contagious disease, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A new report from PA Requirements, a Pennsylvania-based nursing continuing education site, compiled recent CDC data that showed an estimated 80% of the state’s kindergartners reported completing their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine series, significantly below the national rate of 92.7%.
The report’s release comes as measles continues to spread in the U.S., with the first reported measles outbreaks in Texas. Idaho reported its first known measles case, from an out-of-state visitor, in May.
AJ McWhorter, a spokesperson at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, confirmed the rate to the Idaho Statesman – the state agency provides the data to the CDC – but stopped short of calling it a vaccination rate.
McWhorter in an emailed statement said the state can’t calculate vaccination rates because of “missing or incomplete records.” If a parent filed an exemption for providing vaccine records, the child could have still received the vaccine, McWhorter said.
According to the CDC, the number of known MMR vaccinations in Idaho has been declining among kindergartners since the 2019-2020 school year, when rates dropped from 89.5% to 89.1%. In the four years since, that number dropped by nearly 10 percentage points.
The MMR vaccine is highly effective, based on CDC data. One dose of the vaccine is 93% effective against measles, and the recommended second dose increases that efficacy to 97%.
National measles concerns come to Idaho
Dr. Christine Hahn, state epidemiologist of Idaho, released a statement in April warning the public about the potential for a measles outbreak in the state.
“So far in 2025, there have already been more cases (nationally) than in all of 2024,” she said in the statement. “While no cases have been reported yet in Idaho, the summer travel season is beginning, and I am concerned that we will see cases in the state.”
A month later, a measles patient was reported in south-central Idaho. The patient, who was an international business traveler, was technically not considered Idaho’s first case due to his out-of-state status, South Central Public Health District spokesperson Amy Dillon told the Statesman in May.
For more information on measles, individuals can refer to the CDC at www.cdc.gov/measles and the DHW at www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov.