The data shows just over 49 percent of children here received vaccinations for Hepatitis A last year, down from 52 percent in 2012. That puts our state below the national hep A vaccination rate of 55 percent.
That’s a significant drop in child vaccinations, according to Daniel Burke of the New Mexico Department of Health. Burke says a decrease in health care providers offering vaccinations and a rise in people opting out of vaccine requirements could help explain the last year’s low numbers.
“New Mexico law allows people to request either or a religious or a medical exemption from getting vaccines, and we’ve had a slow increase in the number of people who are exempt from getting their children vaccinated,” Burke said in an interview.
New Mexico came in 43rd out of 51 in the list of state vaccination rates for the liver disease, including the District of Columbia. Rhode Island led the country with a vaccination rate of 61 percent.
The CDC reports that nationwide, children below the federal poverty level tended to have lower vaccination rates overall.