When epidemiologist Sophia Newcomer tries to evaluate how well Montana might be able to ward off the measles outbreak spreading across the U.S., she doesn’t have much data to work with.
A federal state-by-state survey last year showed that just over 86% of Montana’s 2-year-olds had recently received the measles, mumps, and rubella immunization. That figure has decreased in recent years, according to earlier surveys, and Newcomer, an associate professor at the University of Montana, said the latest rate is “well below” the ideal 95% threshold for community protection against highly contagious diseases.
But beyond that statewide estimate, information about Montana’s local and regional immunization trends is hard to come by. State officials no longer collect aggregated vaccination reports from schools and child care centers, or the included data about medical and religious exemptions. The administration of Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte discontinued the practice after he signed a 2021 bill striking the requirement.
The last of the localized reports were from the 2018-19 school year, before the disruptions of covid-19. Without the information, Newcomer said, local and state officials have struggled to strategically prevent the spread of vaccine-preventable disease.
“State averages are helpful, but really drilling down to county level or smaller geographic levels are really what we need to assess risk of outbreaks,” she said.
Montana is the only state that no longer collects immunization reports from local schools, creating a data gap for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The information shortage also affects city and county health officials who may not …