Strict school vaccine mandates work, and parents don’t game the system − new research

By: Y. Tony Yang, George Washington University; Anthony Bald, California State University, Fullerton , and Samantha Gold, Cornell University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: November 3, 2025

Words: 858

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 1 day ago

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By Y. Tony Yang, George Washington University; Anthony Bald, California State University, Fullerton , and Samantha Gold, Cornell University

When four states between 2015 and 2021 stopped allowing parents to opt their children out of receiving routine vaccines without a medical reason, vaccination rates among kindergartners increased substantially. That’s the key finding from our new study published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.

All states require children entering kindergarten to be vaccinated against infectious …

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