NEW YORK (AP) — The proportion of U.S. kindergartners exempted from school vaccination requirements has hit its highest level ever, 3%, U.S. health officials said Thursday. Political Cartoons View All 1237 ImagesAll states allow exemptions for children with medical conditions that prevents them from receiving certain vaccines. But the percentage with nonmedical exemptions has inched up, lifting the overall exemption rate from 1.6% in the 2011-2012 school year to 3% last year. Hawaii saw the largest jump, with the exemption rate rising to 6.4%, nearly double the year before. One apparent paradox in the report: The national vaccination rate held steady even as exemptions increased.

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Persons: kindergarteners, it’s, hasn’t, ”, Sean O’Leary, —, O’Leary, “, Shannon Stokley Organizations: Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, University of Colorado, CDC, West, American Academy of Pediatrics, Health, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: COVID, Idaho, New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Maine, U.S