Oregon has a vaccination problem that isn’t going away.
More Oregon parents are having their children opt out of required school vaccinations, pushing exemption rates to record highs and raising concerns about the state’s vulnerability to outbreaks of diseases that vaccines have kept largely in check for decades.
During the 2025-26 school year, 11% of Oregon kindergarteners were missing at least one required immunization because their parents claimed a nonmedical exemption based on personal or religious beliefs. That’s the highest rate Oregon has recorded in at least 40 years.
Only Idaho, where 15% of kindergarteners had exemptions, and Utah, at 12%, reported higher rates.
At the same time, overall vaccination rates continue to slide.
Just under 86% of Oregon kindergarteners were up to date on their required shots, including those that protect against measles, polio, whooping cough and hepatitis B, extending a decline that has accelerated in recent years.
Parents are more likely to opt out of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine than any other required school immunization. Nearly 1 in 10 Oregon kindergarteners now have a nonmedical exemption for the second MMR dose, almost double the rate a decade ago.
Vaccination rates are falling alongside those exemptions. Fewer than 90% of Oregon kindergarteners are fully vaccinated against measles, well below the 95% threshold public health experts say is needed for herd immunity. Across all K-12 students, measles vaccination coverage has slipped below 94%.
The trend worries health officials because measles is one of the most contagious diseases in the world. Unlike many other vaccine-preventable illnesses, even small declines in vaccination rates can create opportunities for measles outbreaks.
The new figures land as measles gains a stronger foothold in Oregon. The state has confirmed 23 measles infections this year and is on pace to surpass 2024’s outbreak of 31 cases, the largest Oregon has seen in three decades. Nearly all of the recent infections involve unvaccinated people, according to the Oregon Health Authority.
State health officials say more than one-third of Oregon schools have measles vaccination rates below the level needed to prevent outbreaks.
The problem is especially pronounced in parts of rural and southern Oregon.
In Grant County, fewer than 75% of kindergarteners had received both recommended doses of the measles vaccine, while 22% opted out for nonmedical reasons.
Josephine County wasn’t far behind, with 78% of kindergarteners vaccinated against measles and 21% exempt.
Jackson County reported 85% measles vaccination coverage and a 15% exemption rate, while Curry County posted 84% coverage and a 14% exemption rate.
Statewide, only five of Oregon’s 36 counties met the 95% measles vaccination benchmark.
The decline extends well beyond measles.
More than 9% of Oregon kindergarteners claimed non-medical exemptions from the DTaP vaccine, which protects against whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus. Immunizations were lowest in many of the same counties struggling with measles coverage
Less than 80% of kindergarteners in Grant, Wheeler, Baker and Josephine counties got the DTap shot. Rates were only slightly higher in neighboring Jackson and Curry counties, at 83% and 81%, respectively. Each county also reported exemption rates above 14%.
The trend comes as Oregon grapples with its worst whooping cough outbreak in 75 years. The state recorded 1,475 cases in 2025, the highest total since 1950. As of early June, Oregon had already reported 220 pertussis cases this year, state data show.
Polio vaccination rates are slipping as well. More than 9% of kindergarteners opted out of the polio vaccine this year, up about one percentage point from the year before. The highly contagious viral disease that was once a leading cause of paralysis in children before widespread vaccination largely eliminated it in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Statewide, fewer than 90% of kindergarteners are fully vaccinated against polio, the lowest level Oregon has recorded since 1985. The same counties struggling with measles and whooping cough vaccination rates also reported some of the weakest protection against polio, data show.
In Grant, Wheeler and Josephine counties, fewer than 80% of kindergarteners were immunized against polio, placing them below the threshold the World Health Organization estimates is needed for herd immunity.
But health officials say those county and statewide immunization rates can mask deeper pockets of vulnerability. Even in areas with relatively high vaccination rates overall, individual schools with much lower coverage can give these diseases room to spread once they are introduced.
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