Public health experts in Maine say cases of chickenpox and whooping cough are falling in the state, but the number of children receiving immunizations for the diseases and others is still lower than it should be.
The rate of kindergarten-age children whose parents obtained religious or philosophical exemptions for them was 5.6% in the school year that ended in June. The Portland Press Herald reports that was the same rate as the previous school year.
The rate of students receiving exemptions figures is expected to fall dramatically next school year, when the state will implement new laws that repeal religious and philosophical opt-outs to the shots. The only exemptions will be for medical reasons, which aren't common.