(WXYZ) — As Michigan kids return to class, vaccinations are back in the spotlight. State health leaders are raising alarms about struggling vaccination rates, and new federal policy is putting vaccines front and center.
See Keenan's full story in the video below
Families are increasingly concerned about protecting their children, especially in light of the recent outbreak of measles in Michigan and Ontario.
With the outbreaks, I spoke with a local family, a pediatrician and Michigan's top health official about what parents can do.
We caught up with Katie Raines, a teacher and mother of two kids – Walker and Magnolia. She said Magnolia is about to start full-time pre-K.
"Are you nervous with Magnolia going to school full-time?" I asked.
"Yes and no. I'm confident that I believe that most people, I think, vaccinate their children," she said.
But state leaders say that's not enough. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, routine childhood vaccination rates were about 75% for younger kids.
That fell to the mid-60s during the pandemic, and since then, rates have been around 70%.
But, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian says that masks the difference between schools with very high and very low vaccination rates.
At one school, 51 of 52 kindergartners completed all recommended vaccines.
"Which is amazing and means that in all likelihood, there will not be an outbreak of something like measles there," Bagdasarian said.
But, in other schools, vaccination rates may be less than half of that, which Bagdasarian says is a completely different risk.
"My biggest concern is not just these declining vaccination rates, but it's the reason why," Bagdasarian said.
She said watch for misinformation and disinformation, which can be dangerous and may have fueled a shooting at the CDC earlier this month. But that's not the only reason the agency is in the spotlight.
Just days ago, a split between the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics made headlines with the CDC softening COVID recommendations for kids, while the pediatricians' group continues to push for the vaccination.
Also, back in June, in a controversial move, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy fired 17 members of a key advisory committee that makes vaccine recommendations that influence public and private insurance coverage.
"As this group is potentially changing their recommendations, it is possible that the way vaccines are covered could change in upcoming months," Bagdasarian said.
For Dr. Tiffany Binno at Henry Ford Health in Sterling Heights, the back-to-school rush is on.
"We are all fully booked, getting our kids back in," Binno said.
With sports physicals and vaccines, some families are trying to get back on track years after the pandemic.
"The pandemic absolutely delayed a lot of parents with getting an appointment and getting their vaccines. So some kids definitely got delayed with that," she said.
Binno said she's open to her patients' concerns, but reminds those families that we have used many of these same vaccines for decades.
"I tell my patients, 'we create vaccines for those diseases that can cause serious complications, serious illness, and potentially death.' These are the things that we are trying to prevent," Binno said.
That includes diseases like measles. Michigan experienced multiple outbreaks this year, with 27 cases so far in 2025. That's nearly four times as many as the year before.
Raines is watching the fight to contain the highly infectious disease. As a teacher, she knows an outbreak in school could lead to missing valuable class time.
"I think we know from COVID that that big pause in traditional learning wasn't the best thing for our kids in any capacity," Raines said.
Health leaders remind parents it's never too late to catch up and talk with your child's doctor. If you want to check vaccination rates, you can view the state's dashboard here.
