Michigan's school vaccine waiver rate climbed again in the 2025 to 2026 school year.
Experts say the trend is leaving schools and the public vulnerable to preventable outbreaks of serious diseases.
Michigan schools require students to have vaccines that protect against eight serious diseases: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, and chickenpox. But parents can get waivers, either on religious, medical, or philosophical grounds.
More and more parents are asking for those waivers.
Last year the average vaccination waiver rate was just over 7%, compared to just over 6% the year before. That rate represents students who are partially or fully unvaccinated. But in some schools, over 40% of students have vaccine waivers.
Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive, said in schools with very high vaccine waiver rates, measles would spread extremely rapidly among the student population.
"We as a society, we've forgotten how devastating these illness are," she said. "I just want to remind people that these diseases are not minor inconveniences. Mumps, we know, can make someone infertile for life. Measles — people can die from measles, they can end up with hearing loss from measles."
Bagdasarian said the big problem is that parents are being exposed to a surge of misinformation about vaccines on social media.
She urged parents to consult pediatricians, who have been medically trained and understand the research behind the safety and efficacy of vaccines instead.
