More Maine Kids Getting Vaccinated for Measles

Several hundred more schoolchildren have received vaccinations for measles in the past year, boosting the state's protection against a measles outbreak.
The Portland Press Herald reports that up to 400 more grade school children received the measles vaccination in the past school year. Maine's voluntary opt-out rate remains among the nation's highest, so health officials are cheering the improvement.

The newspaper says Maine's overall non-medical opt-out rate for kindergarten students declined to 3.7 percent. That's still higher than the national average of 2 percent.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention released vaccination rates in response to a Freedom of Access Act request by the newspaper. The newspaper has compiled a database based on two years of school-by-school data. (AP)