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Childhood vaccine coverage across the U.S. has hit a measurable decline once again as health authorities hope to avert major surges in diseases such as RSV and COVID-19 this winter. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the rate of vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) for kindergarteners has fallen below the healthy target rate of 95 percent for the second year in a row to 93 percent. (8/6)

Most early-childhood vaccinations require multiple doses, but about 1 in 6 toddlers — 17 percent — are not getting all of the needed doses, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. Incomplete vaccination leaves children vulnerable to preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, mumps, measles, rubella, hepatitis and more. Full vaccination, however, also protects others in their communities and is needed “to develop and maintain herd immunity at a population level,” the researchers wrote. (Searing, 8/7)

Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine this week called on parents across the country to speak up in favor of vaccines in school board meetings and other public settings, and said failing to do so will make it easier for "misinformation" about vaccines to spread. "Misinformation is eroding public confidence in them," Levine said in a Friday blog post on the Department of Health and Human Services’ website. "If we want vaccines to continue to protect our children, we need to speak up and protect vaccines." (Kasperowicz, 8/5)

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities. The decision comes about a year and a half after a lower court judge dismissed the lawsuit challenging the contentious law, which drew protests at the state Capitol. (8/4)