vaccinations

High vaccination rates can help prevent the spread of severe illnesses like measles and polio. But pediatricians say they're encountering more parents hesitant to get their kids immunized.

The share of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 3.3%, up from 3% the year before. Meanwhile, 92.7% of kindergartners got their required shots, which is a little lower than the previous two years.

Florida, like other states, has declining immunization rates among kindergartners. As classes resume, health care providers are urging parents to protect their children against potentially fatal diseases.

The Florida Department of Health provides free shots for kids on weekdays.

Discover expert insights on rising measles cases with Dr. Sunil Joshi. Then explore Dr. Paul Offit's new book, "Tell Me When It's Over."

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz called for Dr. Joseph Ladapo to resign or be terminated over his refusal to declare a public health emergency over the Broward County outbreak.

The highly contagious disease was reported by someone 20 to 24 years old in Polk. It's unknown if it's connected to a school outbreak in Broward, where a case involving a child under 5 was confirmed.

In the wake of measles cases at a Broward school, Florida's surgeon general writes that the Department of Health “is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance” without urging the need for MMR vaccinations.

So far, it’s not known whether the students who acquired the highly contagious virus at Manatee Bay Elementary were immunized with the two-dose MMR vaccine.

As respiratory virus activity picks up around the country, vaccine levels remain below last year's totals, according to the CDC. Cohen has been on national blitz to improve those numbers.