Arizona Families for Vaccines is a volunteer-led, grassroots network of family members dedicated to advocating for public health and evidence-based public policy and promoting immunizations for healthier kids and communities.

We are looking forward to working with you this session and as we work to maintain strong, evidence-based vaccine policy in the future.

The impact of missed preventative medical care during the pandemic is beginning to emerge in the form of drastic declines in childhood vaccination rates among Arizona youth, now at lower levels than at any point in the past decade.

The trend is compounded, experts contend, by a reluctance from the Arizona Department of Health Services to address rising rates of personal belief vaccine exemptions. The Arizona Legislature, meanwhile, passed a law to limit the ability of health regulators to require certain vaccines for school attendance.

A growing number of Arizona parents have opted out of getting measles shots for their kindergartners during the pandemic, according to new data compiled by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Public health experts say that the alarming trend, which escalated over the last three years, is putting more schools at risk of an outbreak of the dangerous childhood disease. 

In Maricopa County, for example, there are 876 childcare or preschool facilities. Just 517 of them — not quite 60% — meet the 95% threshold that protects children in attendance from a severe outbreak. 

Other counties are far less protected. 

In Yavapai County, only 20% of  preschool or childcare facilities are protected. The figures are even worse at elementary schools: Just 14% of kindergartens and 17% of 6th grade classrooms have community immunity. A similar trend is seen in Mohave and Gila counties.