Illinois Maintains High Childhood Vaccination Rates Outpacing National Trends

Illinois Maintains High Childhood Vaccination Rates Outpacing National Trends

Joint IDPH/ISBE school vaccine dashboard shows coverage for nearly all vaccines is at desired 95% threshold or better

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois's newly-updated School Vaccination Coverage Dashboard shows that coverage rates for all school-required childhood immunizations are holding steady compared to last year, and all but one of those immunizations is above the state's 95% coverage goal to optimize prevention of infectious disease spread.

The dashboard is put together each year by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), using data provided to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) by PreK-12 schools and school districts across Illinois.

"Our latest school immunization numbers validate our efforts to make vaccines more accessible," said Governor JB Pritzker. "I'm grateful to the Illinois Department of Public Health, the State Board of Education, school administrators, healthcare professionals, and families for their efforts to keep our state's youngest residents healthy, informed, and immunized."

"Across Illinois, families, schools, and public health partners are working together to keep children protected from preventable illnesses," said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. "The updated dashboard shows that school vaccination rates remain strong, with nearly all immunizations meeting the state's 95% coverage goal. Under Governor JB Pritzker's leadership and in partnership with the State Board of Education, IDPH is committed to ensuring that Illinois families have reliable science-based information and easy access to vaccinations."

"Schools play a vital role in protecting the health and well-being of our students," said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders. "The strong immunization rates reflected in this dashboard are the result of the dedication of school nurses, administrators, and families working together to maintain coverage that reduces disruptions to learning. The dashboard helps communities understand where we are succeeding and where we must continue to focus so every student can learn in a safe, healthy environment."

The dashboard tracks immunization rates in the current school year (2025-26) for eleven different school-required childhood vaccinations at more than 4,600 Illinois schools. Data from the updated dashboard shows that immunization rates are slightly higher than the previous school year for ten of those eleven vaccines; the only exception is hepatitis B, which was only 0.03% lower than a year earlier.

One of the most encouraging signs from the dashboard data is that almost all of those statewide childhood immunization rates are above 95% for all students. That 95% threshold is seen as optimal to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and to protect those who cannot be vaccinated for health or other reasons. However, the dashboard shows that despite the overall strong statewide numbers, some counties and individual schools are well below that 95% threshold, potentially making people in those areas more vulnerable to vaccine-preventable illness.

[The numbers above show statewide immunization rates for each of the school-required childhood vaccines.]

The only immunization under the 95% threshold is the meningococcal vaccine, which protects against meningitis (a type of brain infection) and its complications. However, even this vaccine rate has shown improvement at 94.39%, up from 93.88% the previous year. This is a significant improvement from the 2024-25 school year, when three immunizations (meningococcal, pneumococcal, and Hib) were below 95%.

Measles had one of the highest rates of coverage at 96.78%. As a result, Illinois continues to see low case counts of measles, even as total numbers nationwide have soared to their highest levels since measles was declared "eliminated" in 2000.

Under the leadership of Governor JB Pritzker, IDPH has taken numerous steps to promote vaccine availability and use. These steps include:

• Governor Pritzker signed Public Act 104-0439 in December, further empowering IDPH to create and publish science-based vaccine guidance for Illinoisans, requiring state-regulated insurers to cover vaccines recommended by IDPH, and expanding access for children to receive immunizations at pharmacies.
• IDPH adopted the science-based 2026 child and adolescent immunization schedule issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics, in response to federal changes to immunization guidance that were not backed by scientific evidence.
• IDPH has bolstered its Illinois Immunization Advisory Committee (IL-IAC), adding more experts to conduct robust review of available evidence about immunizations and make recommendations to IDPH.
• IDPH continues to work with local health departments on immunization awareness and education, and to make immunizations more accessible through mobile clinics and other efforts.

Vaccination data in the dashboard is derived exclusively from ISBE, which oversees annual vaccination data collection and reporting from schools statewide. Schools report students' immunization status as of Oct. 15.

The data can be sorted by multiple factors, including county, census tract, municipality, school or school district; by school characteristic, including funding type, affiliation, and population; and by indexes that measure social vulnerability within a community and show what percentage of a community must be immunized against a particular illness in order to protect those who are not immunized. Users can also view trends related to immunization coverage and exemptions under state law.