Massachusetts is holding the line on childhood vaccinations overall this school year, but public health officials say the real story is tucked inside the fine print. Small clusters of unvaccinated kids are growing in specific corners of the state, and those pockets of exemptions and delayed shots could spell trouble once summer crowds arrive.
State survey data show where the armor is thinning. Kindergarten and county breakdowns reveal that 163 kindergarten classes still have not reached measles herd-immunity levels, and kindergarten classes in 86 schools lack the recommended protection against whooping cough. Seven of the state’s 14 counties fell short of the 95 percent MMR benchmark, and Franklin County slipped below 90 percent. At the same time, religious waivers climbed to 1,068 this year, roughly 200 more than a year earlier, a 23 percent jump, according to The Boston Globe, which reviewed the Department of Public Health’s annual school immunization report.
Where the Gaps Are
Some of the most worrying weak spots are in small, destination communities that draw heavy tourist traffic and have a history of vaccine skepticism. On Martha’s Vineyard, nearly 10 percent of kindergartners now have an exemption, and local pediatricians say delayed and alternate schedules make the island especially vulnerable.
"We really dodged a bullet last summer, but it feels like the risks are higher this summer," Dr. Sonya Stevens told The Boston Globe. State public health director Dr. Robbie Goldstein said Massachusetts still has an "immunity wall" that can hold back large-scale spread, but warned that keeping it intact will take active work, especially in communities where hesitancy has quietly become the norm.
National Surge and Federal Policy Disruption
The stakes are higher this year because measles activity is running hot nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the United States saw thousands of confirmed cases in 2025 and more than 1,700 confirmed cases in 2026 as of April 9, highlighting how quickly imported infections can ignite outbreaks in under-vaccinated pockets.
State planners now have to navigate that risk amid confusion from Washington. In March, a federal judge temporarily blocked major parts of the Health and Human Services secretary’s overhaul of vaccine recommendations and portions of the advisory panel process. The federal government has said it will appeal the ruling, according to reporting by The Washington Post, leaving states to juggle rising case counts with shifting federal ground rules.
The Policy Fight and Local Response
On Beacon Hill, lawmakers are already eyeing the rising exemption numbers. Legislation under consideration would tighten or scrap the religious exemption for school vaccine requirements, a direct response to the growth in waivers. The Legislature’s docket includes bills that would change how schools report immunizations and process exemption requests.
Advocacy groups such as Health Action Massachusetts counter that current outbreak protocols and exclusion policies are enough, and that eliminating religious waivers would burden a small minority of families, a position described by local outlets. Public health advocates note that nonmedical exemptions in Massachusetts are still low compared with many other states, at roughly 1.2 percent of kindergartners, according to national data compiled by KFF. Even so, officials warn that a handful of under-vaccinated classrooms can be all it takes to seed a local outbreak.
Some local public health agencies are not waiting to find out. Using state grants and staffing plans, they have hired temporary workers and identified vaccinated volunteers who could run surge clinics if cases pop up in vulnerable communities. Officials say that kind of rapid response can blunt outbreaks before they spread widely. Parents and caregivers, meanwhile, are being urged to double-check vaccination records, catch up on missed doses, and talk with pediatricians about getting children back on the recommended schedule.
