Bucks County School Vaccination Rates Drop

School immunization rates across Bucks County have largely decreased since 2019, according to state public health data.

The trend is happening in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed 945 Bucks Countians between 2020 and 2024, and as Pennsylvania battles the nation’s third-largest measles outbreak.

Data submitted by public and private schools to the Pennsylvania Department of Health show local immunization rates inching lower. (The state recently introduced a school-by-school rate database.)

The kindergarten and seventh grade vaccination rates fell, while 12th grade rates slightly increased from 95.3 percent to 95.8 percent.

​State immunization regulations and health department guidelines make all schools to report vaccination data for kindergarten, seventh, and twelfth grades by December 31 each year.

Bucks County’s vaccination rate downturn mirrors federal data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which documented a nationwide rise in student vaccine exemptions from 3.6 percent to 4.2 percent during the 2025-2026 academic year.

Pennsylvanians officials warn of the ongoing measles outbreak with students set to return to classrooms in the coming weeks.

Pennsylvania trails only Utah and South Carolina in total measles cases, according to CDC data.

There have been 379 confirmed measles cases so far this year in the state, including 89 new cases identified last week, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data.

The growing outbreak has resulted in 70 hospitalizations and zero deaths.

Per state health department officials, none of the people infected and treated in the hospital were fully vaccinated.

The surge is a sharp rise from 2025 when Pennsylvania recorded just 16 cases over the entire year.

The highest case counts in 2026 have centered in Lancaster and Chester counties.

Bucks County has reported no confirmed cases this year, while neighboring Montgomery and Northampton counties have documented a small number of infections.

Immunizations against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) in students currently average 95.6 percent in Bucks County, down from 97.6 percent during the 2019-2020 school year.

Medical experts classify a 95 percent MMR immunization rate as the “herd immunity” level needed to stop community transmission.

Despite the countywide average remaining slightly above that benchmark, a Philadelphia Inquirer analysis revealed that at least 12 Bucks County schools recorded kindergarten MMR rates below 90 percent in 2024. Most of the schools with the low rate were faith-based private or charter schools. The Palisades School District in Upper Bucks County was the only public school district with multiple elementary schools under the 90 percent rate.

Health authorities said that diminished immunization levels elevate community vulnerability to very contagious pathogens.

Measles spreads rapidly through airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and the virus can remain active in an airspace for up to two hours after an infected individual departs. Contaminated surfaces also pose a risk if a person touches their face afterward, according to doctors.

Infected people can transmit the virus to others starting four days before a rash or symptoms appear through four days after. Symptoms typically manifest seven to 14 days following exposure, though incubation can extend to 21 days. Common early signs include a high fever that can top 104 degrees Fahrenheit, a cough, a runny nose, red, watery eyes, and a rash, the state health department said in an informational flyer.

While two doses of the MMR or MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella) vaccine provide lifelong protection for most people, the virus can cause severe health complications, particularly in children under age 5. Complications include pneumonia and acute encephalitis, according to the CDC.

Federal data shows that roughly two in every 1,000 infected children die from the disease. The World Health Organization estimates one in 1,000 infected children develops acute encephalitis, which frequently leads to permanent brain damage. The virus can also cause blindness.

The main serious side effect of measles is a febrile seizure. It happens in roughly one out of every 3,500 children under age 7 within two weeks of receiving a dose, according to the CDC. Febrile seizures are generally not fatal.

Serious side effects from the MMR vaccine are much less common than severe complications from the infection itself, health officials said.

The current outbreak takes place amid with shifts in national public health guidance as U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and President Donald Trump’s administration have instituted changes to federal vaccine policies and shared skepticism of vaccines.

Although Kennedy has a documented history of running an organization that spread misinformation about vaccines, he has encouraged the public to get the MMR vaccines, according to FactCheck.org.

“The measles vaccine prevents measles in 97 percent of the people who take it … That’s what the science says,” Kennedy told Congress.

In response, multiple states, including Pennsylvania, no longer rely on federal recommendations as their primary guideline for childhood immunizations.

A Kaiser Family Foundation briefing paper said the federal policy adjustments, alongside changes to school exemption requirements in various states, may heighten confusion among families and further weaken childhood vaccination rates as the new school year begins.

For timing and spacing of childhood shots, Pennsylvania continues to follow guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

State policy requires students entering kindergarten to have four doses of tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (with one given on or after the fourth birthday); four doses of polio (with the fourth given on or after the fourth birthday and at least six months after the prior dose, unless the third dose was given at age 4 or older and six months after the second); two MMR doses; three hepatitis B doses; and two varicella doses or documented proof of immunity.

Students entering seventh grade must receive an additional dose of Tdap and a meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV) on the first day of school. Twelfth graders must receive a dose of MCV on their first day, though a dose administered at age 16 or older satisfies the requirement.

According to state health officials, Pennsylvania law grants vaccine exemptions for medical reasons, religious beliefs, or strong moral and philosophical convictions.

Health officials warned that exempt students may be excluded from attending school during an active outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease.