As the debate over vaccinations is heating up across the nation, the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters have obtained new numbers on unvaccinated children in Connecticut.
You may recall last February, the Troubleshooters put the spotlight on the growing number of vaccine exemptions. The new numbers show that trend continues.
The state health department tracks the number of vaccine exemptions of new students entering Kindergarten and seventh grade.
For the 2013-2014 school year, just over 1,200 of the state's more than 84,600 new students were exempt.
Data shows that over the past five school years, the number has more than doubled:
- 2009-10: 595 exemptions
- 2010-11: 764 exemptions
- 2011-12: 1,056 exemptions
- 2012-13: 1,153 exemptions
- 2013-14: 11246 exemptions
