Anne Coates, MD, FAAP, is a pediatric pulmonologist in Portland. She is also president of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Joe Anderson, DO, FAAP, is a pediatric hospitalist in Lewiston. He is also vice president of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

As Maine kids head back to school, parents are making sure they have everything they need for a successful, healthy school year ahead: new backpacks, notebooks and pencils, and all the vaccines required to attend school under Maine law.

This year, however, the start of school comes amid an alarming executive order from the current administration and a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing declining kindergarten vaccination rates nationwide.

Maine’s school vaccination requirements are among the strongest in the nation. Students are required to be vaccinated against eight diseases — including measles, polio and chickenpox — by the time they enter kindergarten. In addition, non-medical exemptions are prohibited in Maine. These policies have paid off: Maine’s school vaccination rates have exceeded the national averages and thresholds needed to achieve community immunity against many diseases.

While Maine’s vaccine laws have kept our students protected, children in other states are experiencing the consequences of declining childhood vaccination rates. When vaccination rates fall, communities become more vulnerable to outbreaks that can cause severe illness, hospitalization and even death.

Troublingly, recent data shows that only 92% of kindergartners in the U.S. are vaccinated. While that figure may seem adequate, it isn’t high enough to reliably prevent diseases from spreading in communities. Declining vaccination rates help to explain how diseases that had become rare due to effective vaccination are making a comeback. Measles, for example, a disease once eliminated in the U.S., has reached a 35-year high in cases this year and even caused the deaths of two unvaccinated people recently reported in Pennsylvania.

Maine is doing better. During the 2025-2026 school year, 98% of Maine kindergartners were vaccinated against measles. We should celebrate this vaccination rate while also recognizing the populations that remain at risk in our communities — particularly immunocompromised children, homeschool students who are unvaccinated and young children not yet vaccinated.

A 98% vaccination rate is higher than the threshold needed for community immunity against measles, but it doesn’t mean every child is protected. Children and adults who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons rely on those around them — classmates, teachers, friends and community members — to be vaccinated in order to keep them protected.

Unvaccinated children who are homeschooled can also face serious illness from vaccine-preventable diseases, which they can unknowingly spread to vulnerable community members, like immunocompromised individuals or infants. Whether learning at home or in a classroom, on-time vaccinations allow kids to stay healthy, active and learning.

There’s currently a lot of conflicting information circulating about which vaccines children need and their timing. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations on vaccine timing are based on thorough research and understanding of how kids’ immune systems develop and learn to respond to diseases. Our goal as pediatricians is the same as yours: to keep your child protected from serious diseases so they can continue to learn, play with friends and spend time with family — not in the hospital or at home sick.

As pediatricians, we talk with families about vaccines every day. While the vast majority of parents continue to vaccinate their children, we know that parents may increasingly encounter false claims, low-quality information and conflicting guidance about vaccines, which can cause confusion, distrust and uncertainty. Your child’s pediatrician is there to listen to your questions and ensure you have accurate, reliable information to make the best decision for your child.

But keeping Maine children protected from vaccine-preventable diseases requires more than individual decisions. Lawmakers can help keep children healthy and free from vaccine-preventable disease by promoting access to evidence-based vaccine information and guidance, ensuring access to childhood vaccines and protecting Maine’s strong vaccine requirements.

A new school year brings a new opportunity to build on the progress Maine has made and ensure every child has the chance to start the year healthy, protected and ready to learn.