![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-1803648552.jpg\" "\\"Photo")
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Photo illustration of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine in a vial.<\/p>\n
Kittisak Kaewchalun<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
The number of Tarrant County kindergartners vaccinated against measles dipped slightly last school year, according to the latest data.<\/p>\n
Across all Tarrant County schools, almost 93% of kindergartners were vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in the 2025-26 school year, down from almost 94% the year before.<\/p>\n
Statewide, 93.3% of all kindergartners<\/a> were vaccinated with the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. The number of conscientious exemptions to the measles vaccine increased from 3.76% in 2024-25<\/a> to 4.63% last school year<\/a>.<\/p>\n The vaccination data, which was released by the state health department this week, comes after one of the state\u2019s worst measles outbreaks in recent history<\/a>. The outbreak caused more than 750 cases, and two children died from measles. At least 99 people were hospitalized.<\/p>\n Also affecting vaccination rates was a new state law that went into effect allowing parents to download vaccine exemption forms instead of receiving them by mail.<\/p>\n Rekha Lakshmanan, executive director of The Immunization Partnership, said the new law plus confusion over vaccine policy at the federal level resulted in the increase in conscientious exemptions.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what we saw in this report is the cumulative impact of these policies kind of slowly coming to a head,\u201d Lakshmanan said.<\/p>\n Tarrant County\u2019s overall vaccination rate masks wide variation in vaccination rates by campus. In 2024-25, Mercy Culture Preparatory Academy reported having just 5% of their students vaccinated, the second lowest rate in the state. Mercy Culture was not included in this year\u2019s data. Other schools reported 100% of kindergartners vaccinated. At vaccination rates of 90% or below, data indicates the chance of an outbreak at a school rises to 51% if someone comes to school with measles. The lower the rate gets, the more likely an outbreak.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the campus rates, not the county- or districtwide rates, that matter most in terms of preventing an outbreak, Dr. David Higgins, a pediatrician and professor at the University of Colorado\u2019s medical school, previously told the Star-Telegram.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vaccination rate at that hyper local level is what actually really matters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 5:22 PM.<\/p>\n