MAINE, USA — Maine's child vaccination rates are among the lowest in the country with at least 5.6-percent of Kindergartners receiving non-medical exemptions.
State lawmakers voted to advance a bill aimed at eliminating those exemptions Tuesday.
State representatives passed the bill 78-59, mostly along party lines.
According to the latest 2018-2019 survey by the Dept. of Health and Human Services, vaccine exemptions have increased by more than a percent in the last year.
Knox and Lincoln counties have the highest exemption rates. Nearly 10-percent of kindergartners aren't vaccinated in those counties. The lowest exemption rates are in Aroostook and Washington counties, where it's only about 3-percent.
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The bill will now be debated in the Senate. A vote is expected to happen on Thursday.
If the the bill passes, Maine would be the fourth state in the country to do away with non-medical vaccine exemptions.
