UN: U.S. Has Highest Number of Unvaccinated Children Among High-Income Countries

A report from UNICEF published Tuesday finds that the U.S. has by far the highest number of unvaccinated children among high-income countries, according to data from 2010-2017. The United Nations agency reported that more than 2.5 million children in the country are unvaccinated against deadly and preventable diseases, including measles, which is seeing an unprecedented resurgence. France was second, at 608,000 children. Overall, 169 million children worldwide missed out on their first measles vaccine. But what’s different about the U.S.’s high rate is that children are skipping life-saving vaccinations due to religious exemptions or misinformation rather than economic or geographic barriers like kids in the rest of the world. The MMR vaccine has repeatedly been shown to be safe and effective against measles.