Georgia kindergartners started school last year with a fully vaccinated rate of just 86.8%, new CDC data show, far below the 95% level needed to stop measles from spreading in a classroom. Exemptions climbed at the same time, and nearly all of them were religious, not medical. The numbers land as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the country is on pace to break last year’s measles case count by August.
They also land months before the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reviews the country’s measles data this November, an assessment that could end the elimination status the United States has held since 2000.
Georgia Falls Below the Line That Stops an Outbreak
The 86.8% figure covers every vaccine Georgia requires before a child can start kindergarten, not only the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot. State data reviewed by the CDC also show 4.8% of Georgia kindergartners entered school last year with an exemption from at least one required vaccine. Nearly all of those exemptions were religious. Very few were medical.
Both numbers put Georgia behind where health officials want it. The rate trails the national average, which has been falling for years, and it sits well under the coverage level needed to keep measles from taking hold in a school building. Nationally, kindergarten MMR coverage falling to 92.5% during the 2024-2025 school year, and exemptions climbed to 3.6%, a record for the fourth year in a row.
| Location | Vaccination Coverage | Exemption Rate | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia (most recent CDC kindergarten data) | 86.8% | 4.8%, nearly all religious | About 8 points under the herd immunity line |
| United States (2024-2025 school year) | 92.5% MMR coverage | 3.6%, a fourth straight record | Down from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year |
| Utah (2024-2025 school year) | 88.6% | Not broken out in this data | Outbreak has spread to 22 of 29 counties |
| Herd immunity threshold | 95% | N/A | Level the CDC says stops measles from spreading in a community |
Cecil Bennett, a family medicine doctor, told Atlanta News First that misinformation is pushing some parents toward that exemption line. He said parents sometimes hear about herd immunity and assume it will protect their child no matter what they decide.
Herd Immunity Has Real Dependents
It’s like treating children like cattle, like a herd.
Bennett used that comparison to describe how some parents talk about herd immunity, as if it were a guarantee rather than a threshold that only holds when enough people around a child are vaccinated too.
That threshold has real dependents. Babies younger than 12 months are generally too young for the routine MMR dose. Children in cancer treatment or on other therapies that suppress the immune system often cannot receive it at all. Both groups depend entirely on the immunity of everyone around them.
Georgia’s first measles case of 2026 was exactly that kind of patient. An infant too young to be vaccinated was exposed while traveling internationally, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). The CDC has separate guidance for infants who travel abroad before they are old enough for the routine dose.
Five Cases Since January, Every One Tied to an Unvaccinated Traveler
Georgia’s 2026 measles count has grown case by case, and every one traces back to someone who was not vaccinated.
- January 2026: Georgia’s first case of the year, an infant too young for routine MMR who was exposed while traveling internationally, confirmed in the Coastal Health District.
- February 2026: A second case confirmed in an unvaccinated Bryan County resident who had recently traveled out of state but not abroad.
- May 2026: Three more cases confirmed in an unvaccinated Atlanta family’s trip abroad, bringing the year’s total to five.
Five confirmed cases by mid-May put Georgia roughly on pace with last year, when the state logged 10 confirmed cases across all of 2025. DPH said the family members were not infectious during their travel, and the agency worked to notify anyone exposed after they returned home and developed symptoms.
A Countdown Toward November
Georgia’s numbers are a local read on a national trend. As of July 16, 2026, the CDC had confirmed 2,260 measles cases across 44 states and jurisdictions this year, already within reach of 2025’s full-year total of 2,289 cases, the worst count since measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000.
- 2,260 measles cases confirmed nationwide as of July 16, 2026, closing in on all of last year’s total.
- 93% of this year’s cases are linked to an active outbreak rather than a standalone travel case.
- 34 new outbreaks have started in 2026, on top of chains still running from 2025.
- Three deaths have been tied to the current outbreak, the first measles deaths in the U.S. since 2015.
PAHO is expected to formally review that data this November. Elimination requires no chain of domestic transmission lasting 12 months or longer. It does not require zero cases, only that new infections trace back to travel rather than to person-to-person spread already inside the country. Researchers are still working out whether the current chains connect back to a Texas outbreak that began in January 2025, which would push the transmission window past that 12-month mark.
Canada lost its own measles elimination status last November. The World Health Organization announced in January that the United Kingdom and five other European countries had lost theirs too. Utah shows what the slide looks like at the state level: kindergarten vaccination coverage there was 88.6% during the 2024-2025 school year, and its current outbreak has spread to 22 of the state’s 29 counties.
The CDC’s Own Website Becomes Part of the Debate
Vaccine messaging is also under pressure at the federal level. During the confirmation hearing for Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the CDC, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pressed her on a page still live on the agency’s own website.
“If confirmed, will you commit to removing information on the CDC website suggesting a link between vaccines and autism?” Sanders asked.
“If confirmed, Senator, you have my commitment that I will look at those exact terms on the website. I have not seen that. I will speak with the Secretary to understand why,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz told the committee it was “the first time I’m actually hearing about this” and said she accepts the medical evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, according to a hearing report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.
If confirmed, Schwartz would be the fourth person named or nominated to lead the CDC since last summer. The last confirmed director, Susan Monarez, lasted less than a month in the post in 2025 before Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired her, reportedly after she declined to fire CDC leaders he opposed or approve vaccine changes without scientific backing.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked whether Schwartz would suspend a flu vaccine campaign during a severe flu season if Kennedy ordered it. “Senator, I don’t speak in hypotheticals,” Schwartz said. Hassan said it was not hypothetical at all, pointing to internal CDC emails that Sanders had released the previous month documenting exactly that kind of order from Kennedy to agency staff the year before.
What Should Parents Do Before the Bell Rings?
Doctors say the fastest fix is a conversation with a trusted pediatrician or family physician before the first day of school, not a search engine or a social media thread. Bennett said catching up on a delayed vaccine schedule is usually straightforward, and that the bigger obstacle for most families is fear, not medical risk.
“I know it’s very, very difficult for parents to see their child get all these shots,” Bennett said. “And sometimes they’re looking for a reason not to get a particular vaccine because they think they’re helping their children.”
Bennett warned that measles is not always mild. Some infected children end up hospitalized, he said, and the virus can lead to complications including pneumonia and swelling of the brain.
Georgia’s school bells start ringing across the state in the coming weeks, the same stretch of calendar the CDC says will decide whether 2026 becomes the year measles cases finally pass 2025’s record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Fully Vaccinated Child Still Get Measles?
Rarely. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles, and most breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people are mild. The routine schedule calls for the first dose at 12 to 15 months and a second between ages 4 and 6.
How Young Can a Baby Get the Measles Vaccine Before International Travel?
The CDC recommends an early MMR dose for infants as young as 6 months if they are traveling outside the United States, since the routine two-dose series does not normally start until 12 months. That early travel dose does not replace the two routine doses given later in childhood.
Does Losing Measles Elimination Status Mean the Disease Becomes Common Again?
Not immediately, but it would mark a real shift. Losing the designation would not change Georgia’s school vaccine requirements on its own. It would mean the CDC and PAHO have concluded the virus is circulating continuously inside the country rather than arriving mainly through travel, a distinction that mostly affects how agencies fund and target prevention work rather than everyday life right away.
What Are the First Symptoms of Measles Parents Should Watch For?
Symptoms usually appear 7 to 14 days after exposure and start with high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health’s guidance for families. A rash of small red spots follows a few days later, typically starting at the hairline before spreading down the body.
What Kind of Vaccine Exemptions Does Georgia Allow?
Georgia recognizes medical exemptions and religious exemptions from school vaccine requirements, but not a broader personal-belief exemption that some other states allow. That narrower list is part of why the religious-exemption share stands out: in the most recent CDC data, nearly all of Georgia’s 4.8% exemption rate fell into that single category.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice; parents with questions about a child’s vaccination schedule should consult a licensed pediatrician or family physician, and figures reflect data available as of publication.
