Arizona 8th Worst In U.S. When It Comes To Vaccination Rates

ARIZONA — When it comes to which states have the highest vaccination rates, Arizona is nearly at the bottom of the pack, coming in at the 8th lowest immunization rate in the nation, a new study says. The vaccination topic is a mixed bag in Arizona, with Maricopa County recently reporting a mumps outbreak, but Governor Doug Ducey also recently said the state of Arizona won’t force parents to get their kids vaccinated.

In 1978, smallpox was eliminated worldwide as the World Health Organization led efforts for vaccination. Polio was eliminated in 1979 and measles in the year 2000, the study reported. Some experts say the eliminations of smallpox and polio and even measles in previous decades resulted from “herd immunity” also known as “community immunity,” where a target percentage of people in a community are immunized. According to National Geographic, this herd immunity prevents that specific disease from spreading and thereby shields unimmunized persons.

But measles reappeared in 2018 and 2019. For last year, CDC data showed 1,282 measles cases reported across 31 states, with the peak in April at 342 cases. The outbreak comprised the highest number of cases since 1992 in the U.S. The CDC also reported that most of those cases were found among those not immunized for measles.

Meanwhile, the target immunization rate resulting in community immunity is between 90 and 95 percent.

These are Arizona’s immunization rates:

• Combined 7-vaccine series: 70.7%
• DTaP (≥4 doses): 84.5%
• Polio (≥3 doses): 90.6%
• MMR (≥1 dose): 91.1%
• Hib (full series): 76.7%
• HepB (≥3 doses): 79.6%
• Varicella (≥1 dose): 91.8%
• PCV (≥4 doses): 76.2%

And here are the national vaccination rates:

• Combined 7-vaccine series: 75.0%
• DTaP (≥4 doses): 87.9%
• Polio (≥3 doses): 94.3%
• MMR (≥1 dose): 93.3%
• Hib (full series): 83.5%
• HepB (≥3 doses): 75.0%
• Varicella (≥1 dose): 93.5%
• PCV (≥4 doses): 84.5%

The other states among the 10 with the lowest vaccination rates were Montana, Indiana, Washington, Minnesota, South Carolina, Mississippi and Missouri. Florida and New York were also in the group, ranked the 9th and 10th worst respectively.

The study's authors note a 6 percent gap between white and Asian vaccination rates and lower rates of Native American and African-American immunizations. The study also points out a 10 percent gap when it comes to the lower vaccinations rates of those living below the poverty level.

The study is based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Immunization Survey statistics for kids born in 2015 and 2016 who were 19 to 35 months old during the survey.