PORT HURON, Mich. — State health officials urged parents in several counties to vaccinate babies against measles ahead of schedule this spring as cases multiplied in Michigan.
The outbreaks of the highly contagious virus — which can lead to brain swelling, deafness, and death — came as parents are opting school-age kids out of vaccinations at a record-high rate. It’s a situation state officials have spent more than a decade trying to avoid.
For years, they’ve been trying to make it harder for parents to send their kids to school unvaccinated. But those efforts have backfired in places like St.
Clair County, in Michigan’s conservative Thumb region. Remington Nevin, the county’s medical director, has declared “a new era of vaccine choice.” Local parents there can now bypass the usual protocols and get school vaccine waivers via email, days after they fill out a brief digital form.
In fact, Michigan’s health agency has been helping more than 30 counties move away from a state policy once credited with sharply reducing the number of parents who opted their kids out of shots.
KFF Health News published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 03 Jun 2026.
The item focuses on Michigan Found a Way To Reduce School Vaccine Waivers.
Until It Backfired.
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