Wisconsin’s childhood vaccination rates continue to decline since 2020, with an all-time low of two thirds of two-year-olds receiving the child series vaccination in 2025, according to data released in March.
Department of Health Services data from 2025 reveals a two point decrease compared to 2024. But vaccination rates vary on an index that tracks social vulnerability. Some of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable residents had child vaccination rates as low as 60.5%, while less vulnerable children had a vaccination rate of 74% in 2025.
Vaccine Hesitancy
Experts point to vaccine apprehension and hesitancy as one potential region for this decline. These attitudes may come from discussions questioning the childhood vaccination schedule and theories that they are linked to autism, but the American Academy of Pediatrics refutes these claims.
“We know that there is increasing vaccine hesitancy among parents, and there has also been increasing messages that question vaccines circulated by the media,” University of Wisconsin-Madison Pharmacy Professor Mary Hayney told The Daily Cardinal.
Hayney said declining vaccine rates is a complicated issue. “I think if we knew for sure why vaccination rates are decreasing, we would do what we can to fix it,” she said.
Hayney countered that the childhood vaccination schedule has been “assembled by experts” who used “scientific evidence” to support their recommendations.
“These have been shown to maximize benefit and safety in our vulnerable young children, and truly has been shown to save lives,” Hayney said.
Wisconsin Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson called for the state to lift its vaccine requirements for school children in May 2025.
“We’ve gone from three different vaccines in the childhood schedule to close to 30 and 80-some doses, and nobody even asks the question, could that maybe harm our kids,” Johnson told reporters.
In February, UW-Madison saw a case of measles, the first in Dane County this year. Later, the university announced all students would be required to disclose vaccination status by March 12, where disclosure was previously voluntary.
While Hayney said this policy is a “step in the right direction,” she said she does not know if it is “going to change the world.”
No additional measles cases were reported after the initial case.
“We clearly must have sufficient immunization on campus to prevent an outbreak, that was really, really exciting,” Hayney said.
Demographic discrepancies
Race was the largest demographic discrepancy in vaccination rates, with only 57.4% of Black children receiving their child series vaccinations compared to 78% of white children. Indigenous or Native American children had the second lowest percentage at 64.1%.
This mirrors national trends. A 2024 CDC report found that coverage for Non-Hispanic Black children was notably lower than white children across 17 measures. Black Americans often face structural boundaries to vaccination, such as limited healthcare and transportation access.
Many Black Americans may have lower trust in medical institutions, often due to experiences of medical racism from professionals in the field.
Immunization education is also a leading boundary to vaccination. According to a 2025 study by the Harvard School of Public Health, American Indian and Alaskan Native children tend to have lower vaccination rates and education due to generational trauma from disenfranchisement.
The study explained that low literacy and educational attainment decrease vaccine awareness. They said that a lack of vaccine education “impedes vaccination”, but that the low educational attainment of American Indian and Alaskan Native children has “historical causes.”
Recent data also showed a small regional discrepancy, with Milwaukee and Dane counties having relatively high childhood vaccine rates.
“There are geographical differences in vaccine uptake, even in a relatively small geographical area like Wisconsin,” Hayney said.
