Broad disparities were highlighted by an examination of MMR vaccine uptake in Texas. CIDRAP has the news.
An example is that overall coverage in Gaines County was 82%, but “school-based rates were as low as 46%.” The study authors mapped “Texas kindergarten MMR uptake at the county and school-district levels and plotted private-school location using school-specific uptake from the Texas Annual Report of Immunization Status of Students.” Low coverage of the vaccine “fueled the West Texas outbreak, which sickened 762 people, led to the hospitalization of 99, and killed 2 school-aged children. In total, 93% of them were unvaccinated.”
The study authors wrote that “maintaining measles elimination requires a minimum 95% vaccination coverage, a benchmark the United States overall and many states fail to meet.” 13 counties in Texas reported national coverage with two doses of the MMR vaccine under 85% during the 2023-24 school year.
School-based rates in Gaines County, where overall MMR vaccine uptake was 82%, ranged from 46.2% to 94.3%. These schools with “alarmingly low” vaccination coverage often are nested within counties that fail to meet the 95% target. The researchers noted that “even a single case of measles at a school with 85% MMR coverage is likely to trigger an outbreak.”
Additionally, many states don’t publish local vaccine uptake data, making it more difficult to identify vulnerable communities and “combat vaccine hesitancy.”
