Alaska’s rates for childhood vaccinations are well below the national average, and the percentage of kindergarteners who had received all recommended vaccines was the lowest last year since at least 2017, according to a new report from the state Department of Health.
Only 54% of kindergarteners in the state had received all of their recommended vaccinations in 2024, according to a bulletin issued by the department’s epidemiology section. That compares to a national rate of about 93%, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are six recommended vaccines for severe illnesses for kindergarten-age children, and Alaska rates fall below the national average for all six, including polio and chickenpox. For the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, commonly called MMR, only 76% of Alaska kindergarteners in 2024 had completed the recommended two-dose series, the bulletin said. That compares to a 93% national rate for the MMR vaccine, said the bulletin, which documented a downward drift in vaccination rates over recent years.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus, causing fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, and can cause serious illness and death. Symptoms usually appear 7 to 14 days after infection.
The bulletin has a warning: “Declining measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates in Alaska could jeopardize the health of Alaskans.”
Information about Alaska’s lagging childhood vaccination rates comes at a critical time.
Anchorage health officials on May 22 reported the city’s first case of measles in several years. The patient was an unvaccinated child, municipal officials said.
The Anchorage case follows two reported earlier in the year on the Kenai Peninsula, one an adult who had traveled internationally and one a minor, according to the Department of Health.
Unlike the adult Kenai Peninsula case, the sickened Anchorage child had not traveled, said Dr. George Conway, the municipality’s chief medical officer. The child had not had contact with anyone who showed signs of having measles, such as skin rashes, so the source of exposure remains unclear, he said.
But the infected child did spend time at numerous public spaces in Anchorage before being diagnosed on May 21, including a trampoline park and the local YMCA, officials said.
No related measles infections have been reported in Anchorage as of Thursday since this month’s single diagnosis was revealed.
Though measles was declared to have been eliminated in the United States in 2000, thanks to the vaccine, the proclamation may have been premature.
Currently, there are large outbreaks elsewhere in the nation, particularly in Texas and neighboring states. There were 1,046 cases and three measles deaths reported nationally as of May 22, according to the CDC. Almost all the cases have been among unvaccinated people, the CDC said.
Conway said the national situation makes the Anchorage case unsurprising. Reduced rates of vaccination around the nation and in Alaska have set up conditions for outbreaks, he said.
“We have a vulnerability and that’s manifesting itself in our susceptibility to cases,” he said. “Alaska is certainly no shining star as far as vaccination rates, but we’re not the worst off, either.”
There are a few states, such as Idaho, that have vaccination rates for kindergarteners that are below Alaska’s rates, according to the CDC. But most states have higher rates for all childhood vaccines.
Conway, who has four decades of experience working in public health, used two words to describe the downward trend in childhood vaccinations: “discouraging” and “disappointing.”
Much of that is the result of misinformation and confusion spread on the internet, including a debunked theory that vaccines cause autism among children, he said. That intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
“It’s a much harder environment in which to give advice,” he said.
When it comes to measles, many in the public may underestimate the danger, he added..
“The thing about measles that a lot of people may not understand is it is one of possibly the most readily transmissible respiratory viruses, and it can cause serious illness and deaths,” he said.
The state Department of Health has a similar warning message on its website. “Measles isn’t just a little rash. It’s a highly contagious viral respiratory illness that can be dangerous, especially for babies and young children. Each year around the world, an estimated 10 million people get measles, and about 110,000 of them die from it,” the department warns.
Use of the measles vaccine began in the 1960s. Conway said it is credited with saving 93 million lives worldwide since then.
Health officials hope the news about the Anchorage child who contracted measles – now recovering well – will motivate residents to ensure that they and their children are vaccinated against that and other diseases, Conway said.
However, Anchorage health officials have not noticed any rush toward vaccination yet, he said.
Sarah Aho, the Department of Health’s immunization program manager, said Alaska’s low rate of childhood vaccination is “a multi-faceted situation” that needs a broad-based response.
Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were among them, she said by email.
“We saw fewer children vaccinated early in the COVID-pandemic, initially due to fewer kids attending their well-child visits for routine vaccinations in 2020. Many of those kids are now in kindergarten and may have not gotten up-to-date on their routine immunizations,” she said.
A previous report, issued in 2023, also suggested that COVID-related disruptions have resulted in lower vaccination coverage, though for younger children.
Aho, like Conway, also cited bad information leading to mistrust of health science as a factor in reduced vaccination rates. The “increasing prevalence of misinformation might impact vaccine confidence,” she said by email.
Additionally, there are logistical complications in some areas of Alaska, Aho said. “Access to vaccines is a challenge in some communities, further exacerbating barriers of time and potential vaccine availability,” she said.
To address those issues, health officials are developing an Alaska Immunization Coalition and increasing educational efforts, including focused use of postcard reminders, she said.