Kindergarten vaccination rates drop in Louisiana, doctors alarmed

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE)—Vaccination rates among Louisiana kindergarteners are declining, prompting concern from doctors and public health officials who warn the trend could lead to the resurgence of preventable diseases.

According to data from the Louisiana Department of Health, 90.25% of kindergarteners were vaccinated in 2021. That figure dropped to 89.17% in 2022 and fell further to 85.96% by the 2023 school year.

“It’s surprising, it’s somewhat alarming,” said health educator Eric Griggs, M.D.

Louisiana law requires children entering kindergarten to be immunized against several diseases, including polio, hepatitis A and B, chickenpox (two doses), measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. However, health officials say many students are attending school without meeting those requirements.

An interactive map on the state health department’s website breaks down vaccination rates by school and parish. The data shows that some individual schools are mirroring the statewide decline in immunization.

Doctors say exemptions are playing a role in the drop.

“Since the pandemic we’ve had people change their rules with exemptions like religious exemptions and medical exemptions and as we’ve become more lax as people don’t believe in the science of it, people can choose to not get their kids vaccinated,” Griggs said.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a decrease in kindergarten vaccination coverage, with MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) rates falling from 95% in 2019 to 92.7% during the 2023–24 school year.

Access is another issue, especially in rural parts of the state.

“We’re a rural state, not everyone has access to a primary care, not everyone has access to information, the proper information,” Griggs said.

Not all schools are seeing declines. Some reported increased vaccination rates between 2021 and 2023.

Concordia Parish has one of the lowest rates statewide, with fewer than 53% of children vaccinated. In contrast, Red River Parish in North Louisiana has one of the highest, with nearly 96% of kindergarteners immunized.

Dr. Mark Kline, head physician at Manning Family Children’s Hospital, says misinformation is fueling skepticism around vaccines.

“Some of it has to do with skepticism where vaccines are concerned. There’s a tremendous amount of misinformation and disinformation on the internet about vaccines,” Kline said.

Physicians warn that lower vaccination rates increase the likelihood of outbreaks. A recent measles outbreak in Texas is already spreading to other states, including New Mexico.

“If you’re an unvaccinated child with another unvaccinated child with another one that has measles, again it’s 90 percent infection rate. With measles it lingers in the air for two hours,” Griggs said.

Louisiana has not reported any measles cases in 2025, but state officials say whooping cough is surging. The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed two infant deaths from the disease in the past six months.

“It’s an absolute tragedy and honestly nothing I would have imagined when I was training in pediatrics or as an infectious disease doctor,” Kline said.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham are urging parents to vaccinate their children.

“We encourage the parents to get their child immunized. If you’re pregnant, talk to your doctor, you do not want to get measles when you’re pregnant, it affects not only you, but the baby in your womb,” Cassidy said.

Doctors emphasize the importance of herd immunity—when enough of the population is vaccinated to prevent the spread of disease.

“If 95 percent of the population is vaccinated, it’s called herd immunity,” Griggs said. “There’s less circulating in the community population for someone to build up the nitus for an infection to take place so even if you are exposed to an unvaccinated child with the measles, because you’re vaccinated, you may not take in enough of it for it to cause you to be ill.”

Griggs and Kline continue to urge families to vaccinate their children—not just to protect themselves, but to protect the larger community.

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