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David Higgins, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Even small drops in vaccination rates for US children can lead to disease outbreaks

Xerius Jackson, age 7, gets an MMR vaccine during the Texas measles outbreak in March 2025. Jan Sonnenmair via Getty Images

More than three-quarters of U.S. counties and jurisdictions are experiencing declines in childhood vaccination rates, a trend that began in 2019, according to a September 2025 NBC News–Stanford University investigation. The report also found a “large swath” of the U.S. no longer has the “basic, ground-level immunity” needed to stop the spread of measles.

Dr. David Higgins, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado CU Anschutz Medical Center and a pediatrician who researches vaccines, discusses the dangers of not vaccinating your children.

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