Vaccination rates decline in Mandaue City and Wisconsin

Vaccination rates for measles and rubella are declining in several regions, raising concerns about potential outbreaks and the loss of herd immunity.

In Mandaue City, Philippines, the City Health Office reported a measles-rubella vaccination coverage of only 37 percent based on its master list of 21,849 children. This is a significant drop from previous years when coverage exceeded 90 percent. City Health Officer Dr. Debra Maria Catulong noted that the low rates are partly due to misinformation on social media and challenges faced by health workers in the field. The city aims to reach a 95 percent coverage threshold to prevent outbreaks.

In the United States, Wisconsin is also seeing a decline in immunization. Data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services shows that only 66.9 percent of children reaching 24 months of age received the recommended routine vaccine series in 2025. MMR vaccination rates among 2-year-olds have fallen below 80 percent, which is well below the 95 percent coverage required by public health experts to prevent the spread of measles.