Mississippi is at the top of a public health list once again, but this time it is for a good reason. The state has the nation's highest rate of childhood vaccinations.
According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control, 99.7-percent of Mississippi kids entering kindergarten were vaccinated.
The CDC looked at vaccinations against common childhood illnesses like measles, whooping cough and chicken pox.
In a recent interview, State health office Dr. Mary Currier says high vaccination rates protect whole families.
"If we vaccinate our kids then we are protecting their grandparents. We are protecting infants who are too young to be vaccinated. We are preventing transmission by getting that child vaccinated," Currier said.
Part of the reason for the high rate is Mississippi does not allow religious or philosophical exemptions from vaccination.
The only way to skip the vaccine requirement is with a medical exemption.
Just point-one percent of Mississippi kids received such a waiver.
The lowest ranking state is Colorado, where roughly 80-percent of kids are vaccinated.
