Hospitals

Here are the 9 worst states to live in if you have kids

Vaccinations are obviously a hot topic for debate – it’s exhausting. But with the recent […]

Vaccinations are obviously a hot topic for debate – it’s exhausting. But with the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland, it’s even more clear that this is getting just a bit ridiculous.

Parents really want to know who’s vaccinated and who’s not. And families in some states should be a little more concerned than others, according to numbers from the Centers for Disease Control.

Here are the 9 states with the lowest number of vaccinated kids – in no particular order (they are all kind of close).

1. Arkansas

2. Nevada

3. Montana

4. Alaska

5. Ohio

6. Arizona

7. West Virginia

8. Oklahoma

9. New Mexico

The national average for fully vaccinated kids is 70.4 percent.

Obviously the numbers vary within different areas in each state, but there isn’t necessarily a direct correlation between income or region and increased vaccinations.

As The Washington Post put it: “Some people who don’t vaccinate their kids are hardcore anti-vaxxers. Some are simply “vaccine-hesitant.” Some may not be getting immunized because they don’t have health insurance coverage. As there are multiple drivers of lower vaccination rates, policy responses need to be multi-pronged as well.”

For some context, the full vaccine regimen recommended by the CDC is: at least 4 doses of DTaP, at least 3 doses of poliovirus vaccine, at least 1 dose of measles-containing vaccine, full series of Hib vaccine (at least 3 or 4 doses, depending on product type), at least 3 doses of HepB, at least 1 dose of varicella vaccine, and  at least 4 doses of PCV).

Click here to see the interactive WaPo version of the map above with exact numbers for each state.

Shares0
Shares0