THURSDAY, Aug. 16, 2007 (HealthDay News) -- About 75 percent of states say they've reached the Healthy People 2010 objective of at least 95 percent of all kindergarteners receiving their recommended vaccines, U.S. health officials said Thursday.
The rest of the states are making progress toward the goal of greater than 95 percent vaccination coverage for each of the vaccines recommended by the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, officials said.
The statistics are based on data from 49 states and the District of Columbia for the 2006-07 school year. Nevada did not report data. The findings are published in the Aug. 17 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study authors noted that the vaccines required in each reporting area and the methods for surveying children vary substantially from state to state. Most states rely on self-reports by schools, rather than checks by health departments, to determine vaccination coverage. This can result in incorrect estimations.
To deal with this issue, the CDC is promoting greater standardization of reporting. For example, all states are encouraged to report coverage based on ACIP recommendations rather than on state requirements.
Some of the recommended vaccines include: measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, polio, chicken pox, and whooping cough.
More information
The CDC has more about childhood vaccinations.
