School immunizations

Percent of Minnesota kindergartners:

Protect children through immunization

To protect the population from vaccine-preventable disease, Healthy People 2030 Immunization goals call for 95% coverage for measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine among children in kindergarten.

Minnesota school immunization law

The School Immunization Law in Minnesota requires all students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 12 to show they have received certain immunizations or an exemption. Schools are required to report immunization data to MDH each year through the Annual Immunization Status Report (AISR). The AISR is a useful resource for monitoring immunization coverage rates in the state. More information on Minnesota’s immunization laws can be found on Vaccines for Infants, Children and Adolescents.

Required kindergarten vaccines*

Required Vaccines Required number of doses

Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP)

5**

Polio

4***

Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)

2

Hepatitis B (Hep B)

3

Varicella (chickenpox)

2

Notes:
*Kindergarten students must be up-to-date on all of the required vaccines, or submit an exemption, by the first day of school in order to remain enrolled.
**The fifth dose of DTaP is not required if the fourth dose was given on or after the child’s fourth birthday.
***The fourth dose of polio vaccine is not required if the third dose was given on or after the child’s fourth birthday.

Source: Annual Immunization Status Report. DTaP: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis vaccine. MMR: measles, mumps, rubella vaccine.

This chart displays the percent of kindergarteners fully vaccinated with DTaP, Hepatitis B, MMR, polio, and varicella vaccine over the last 10 school years. Vaccination rates remain high, but there has been a 3-percentage-point decrease in coverage since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving many more students vulnerable to vaccine preventable disease.

Source: Annual Immunization Status Report. DTaP: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis vaccine. MMR: measles, mumps, rubella vaccine.

The overall rate of non-medical exemptions remains low, but some schools have higher rates creating gaps that leave more students vulnerable to disease. Minnesota saw a decrease in the non-medical exemption rate during the first year of the pandemic, however the rate increased back to baseline in the 2021-22 school year. We continue to monitor these trends and work with partners to promote the importance of on-time vaccination.

Source: Annual Immunization Status Report. MMR: measles, mumps, rubella vaccine. Missing doses: includes students who are partially vaccinated with MMR or who are missing documentation of MMR vaccination.

This chart displays the vaccination and exemption rates for the required kindergarten vaccines during the 2021-22 school year. The data has been stratified by school type and includes information for public, private, and charter schools in Minnesota. Public schools have the highest immunization coverage rates among the school types. Private and charter schools have lower immunization coverage rates, leaving more students in these schools vulnerable to vaccine preventable disease.

Other immunization data

State-level vaccine coverage 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:

Last updated November 17, 2022