• The vast majority of children have received the required immunizations by the time they get to kindergarten. However, some schools and school districts have lower immunization rates creating holes that leave students vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases.
• The number and percent of kindergarteners that are up-to-date for each of the five required vaccines for kindergarten enrollment. Required kindergarten vaccines include diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP); polio; measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); hepatitis B; and varicella (chickenpox) vaccines.
• The number and percent of kindergarteners who may not have received all of their required school immunizations because they are either, missing vaccinations, in the process of completing an immunization series, or have a legal medical or non-medical exemption.

• Three years of kindergarten data have been combined to calculate a weighted average for the immunization and exemption percentages. We combined kindergarten data from the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years.
• Percent vaccinated is calculated by dividing the number of kindergarteners who have received all required vaccine doses, by the total number of enrolled kindergarteners and multiplying by 100%.
• Percent partially vaccinated or no doses is calculated by dividing the number of kindergarteners who are missing any or all vaccine doses, by the total number of enrolled kindergarteners and multiplying by 100%.
  • Children who have received at least one dose of a vaccine series, and have documentation signed by a health care provider stating that they will complete the series within 8 months, are still in compliance with the law.
  • A child who has not provided documentation of all required vaccine doses and does not have a legal exemption on file is not in compliance with the law.
• Percent non-medical exemption is calculated by dividing the number of kindergarteners with a documented non-medical exemption, by the total number of enrolled kindergarteners and multiplying by 100%.
• Percent medical exemption is calculated by dividing the number of kindergarteners with a documented medical exemption, by the total number of enrolled kindergarteners and multiplying by 100%.

• The data reported to the MDH does not indicate vaccination status of individual students. Only aggregate grade-level data is reported to MDH.
• This information does not include why students are not up-to-date. Some students may not be vaccinated because:
  • They lack easy access to health care.
  • Their parents choose not to vaccinate.
  • They have been vaccinated but have not submitted the proper documentation to their school health staff.
• This data does not show whether students are up-to-date for recommended vaccines that are not required under the Minnesota immunization law, such as the influenza and HPV vaccines. You can find coverage rates for HPV vaccine at Adolescent Immunizations.
• The data are combined for three school years, and they may not reflect current immunization coverage levels in schools and communities. Students who were not up-to-date when initially enrolling in school may have since been vaccinated.
• Student vaccination records are collected by school staff. School staff summarize the student-level data and report grade-level data to MDH during the fall of each school year. MDH does not have the ability to verify the accuracy of the data that is being submitted by schools.
• Students with exemptions may be partially vaccinated; however, because MDH does not collect individual student level data, we are unable to verify the immunization status of students with exemptions.

• To protect privacy, schools and school districts with three-year enrollment counts that are fewer than five kindergarteners are not included.
• Rates that are based on counts of fewer than 20 students are identified as unstable and should be interpreted with caution. The rate may change dramatically with the addition or subtraction of a single student.
• The AISR is one of several different immunization data sets that are used to assess immunization coverage levels in Minnesota.
• State-level immunization rates are also available from the CDC's National Immunization Survey (NIS) and the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC).
• AISR data differ from MIIC and NIS data on several important factors including: the age group represented, method of collection, and the individual vaccines that are included. For more information regarding childhood immunization rates from MIIC and the NIS, see Immunization Statistics.

To learn more about immunization, contact the MDH Immunization Program. You may also view the single school year data at School Immunization Data - Minnesota Dept. of Health.