NY’s back-to-school vaccine requirements are airtight, at least for now

Key Points:

• New York City health and education officials are urging parents to ensure their children are up to date on vaccinations as schools reopen, maintaining strict vaccine requirements despite shifting federal messaging that has caused some parental hesitancy.
• President Trump recently endorsed a reduced vaccine schedule and called for protecting parental rights and religious freedoms, but New York continues to require comprehensive immunizations for students from Pre-K through 12th grade without allowing religious exemptions.
• New York boasts high vaccination rates, with over 97% of kindergarteners vaccinated against MMR, far above the national average, due to the state's elimination of non-medical exemptions following a 2019 measles outbreak.
• Vaccination rates among younger children under 5, particularly 2-year-olds, are lower and declining, with only 89% receiving the first MMR dose, raising concerns among public health officials.
• Legal challenges to New York’s ban on religious exemptions continue, led by the Amish community, with the case Miller v. McDonald currently under review by the Supreme Court, which has yet to make a definitive ruling on the constitutionality of vaccine mandates.