All states require certain vaccines for children entering public school, but more parents are claiming religious examption from vaccination. During the 2025-26 school year, 4.2% of kindergarteners, about 155,000 pupils, had at least one vaccine exemption, up from 3.6% the previous school year. The vast majority of those exemptions were labeled as "non-medical," meaning that parents or caregivers were opting out of the shots for personal or religious, rather than health, reasons. Medical exemptions remained stable at .2%.

The Kremlin intends on weakening the larger US population