Vaccination rates fall for Florida children, even as measles cases hit record levels
Florida’s childhood vaccination rates continued to drop in the 2025-26 school year, even as measles cases in the state soared in 2026.
The vaccination rate for Florida kindergartners now hovers around 88% for the second school year in a row, after having been well above 90% in the decade before the pandemic, according to newly released Florida Department of Health data. In 2016, the rate had been as high as 94%.
Immunization levels for seventh-graders in Florida dropped from 92.1% last school year to 91.9% in the 2025-26 school year, the lowest level in more than a decade. Those levels are well below what is considered adequate for herd immunity, which typically requires a vaccination rate of 95% to prevent the spread of highly contagious diseases. Herd immunity protects those who are immunocompromised or can’t get vaccinated for health reasons.