New federal data shows that vaccination rates among American children entering kindergarten fell during the 2024-25 school year, extending a worrying trend that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The percentage of children granted exemptions from vaccines has also risen sharply over the past decade.

The statistics, released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provide a sobering explanation for the resurgence of childhood diseases across the United States. Measles has sickened more people this year than in any year since the virus was declared eliminated in 2000, in large part because of a multistate outbreak that began in West Texas and has led to three deaths.

“The more these rates continue to drop, the more danger we’re in of seeing outbreaks like we saw in Tex

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