Vaccination rates for children in Michigan have been falling since the COVID pandemic, and illness incidence rates show it.
Last year, there were 30 cases of measles in Michigan — a disease that was considered eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. And 14 children in the state died of influenza. That was the highest number of children who died of flu since the state began tracking pediatric flu deaths in 2004.
Meanwhile, two doses of the vaccine against measles is about 97% effective in preventing the illness. The flu vaccine reduces pediatric deaths by more than 85%.
Leaders of a new coalition of health care organizations called Michigan For Vaccines say they hope to reverse the trend of falling vaccination rates by urging parents to trust science, experts and their own pediatricians.
Amy Zaagman is head of the Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health, one of Michigan For Vaccines' members.
"We continue to see cases of vaccine preventable disease rising in Michigan and across the country. Falling vaccination rates put every Michigan family at risk," she said at a press conference announcing the formation of the group.
Veronica McNally is founder of the "I Vaccinate" campaign. McNally started the campaign after losing her 3-month-old infant to pertussis, commonly called whooping cough.
"No parent should lose a child to a vaccine-preventable disease," McNally said. "But it happens. And right now, in 2026, it's happening more and more, in Michigan and across the country."
Zaagman said the coalition will also lobby the state Legislature against recent efforts by some lawmakers to weaken Michigan's school vaccination policy. The policy currently requires parents in most counties to watch an online video outlining the safety and efficacy of vaccines, in order to obtain a waiver to opt their child out from mandated vaccines.
"We're getting organized. And we're going to push back against some of the organization from the opposition," she said.
