Immunizations (also known as vaccines) work with the body's natural defenses to help it safely develop immunity to a disease.
Childhood vaccines offer life-saving protection from many very serious diseases.
Learn more about Diseases Prevented by Vaccines.
Protect our community through vaccination
Immunization not only protects a person from serious diseases; it also protects the health of the community.
Preventing disease through vaccination protects people who are too young to be vaccinated, and in rare instances, people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, or people who do not respond to vaccines.
Immunization can also help stop or slow the spread of disease outbreaks, though outbreaks of many diseases have disappeared due to immunization.
Immunization recommendations
It is important for people of all ages to receive recommended vaccines. Since diseases prevented by vaccine are often more serious in young children, most vaccines are given first two years of life.
Medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) publish evidence-based immunization schedules of recommended vaccines based on medical and public health data.
Visit Immunization: Me and My Family for more information about recommended vaccines for children, adolescents and adults.
Immunization school requirements
The Minnesota school immunization law requires all students enrolled in grades Kindergarten through 12 show they have received certain immunizations or that they have an exemption. Schools are required to report immunization data to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) each year through the Annual Immunization Status Report (AISR).
Not all recommended vaccines are included in Minnesota’s immunization school law as these requirements focus on highly infectious diseases that are more easily transmitted in a setting like school where children gather. Refer to Vaccines for Infants, Children, and Adolescents for more information about school immunization requirements.
Immunization resources:
Immunization: Minnesota's leading public health resource for immunization and vaccine-preventable disease information. Providing education and training on vaccinations for the public and health care providers.
Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC): A confidential immunization information system operated by the MDH immunization program. It electronically stores immunization records for Minnesota residents, and offers tools to support immunization practice, monitoring, and improvement.
Last updated January 2026
The Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC) is a useful resource for monitoring immunization coverage rates in the state.
This confidential, computerized system collects immunization records for Minnesota residents to help ensure correct and timely vaccinations.
Systematic, MIIC-based monitoring of adolescent immunization began in 2018. Updated data are available annually in the summer.
The percentage of adolescents who have received recommended vaccination is called a "coverage rate."
Adolescent immunization coverage rates for the state and each county are calculated based on the number of adolescents in MIIC who have received the vaccinations of interest by 13 years, or 19 years compared to the number of adolescents in MIIC.
In order to protect the population from vaccine-preventable disease, Healthy People 2030: Vaccination goals call for 80% coverage among adolescents for some individual vaccines.
Percent of Minnesota adolescents immunized with the 11-12-year-old vaccine series
Most adolescents are getting vaccinated on-time with tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine and meningococcal (MenACWY) vaccine but, most recently, only 29% of adolescents receive all recommended doses of Tdap, MenACWY, and HPV vaccines. Most recently, only 54% are starting the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series.
Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). Series includes: tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine; meningococcal (MenACWY) vaccine; and series completion of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Percent of Minnesota adolescents immunized with the 16-year-old vaccine series
Many older adolescents are not getting vaccinated on-time with meningococcal vaccines. Most recently, about 63% of adolescents received the MenAWCY booster dose by age 19 years. Only about 20% initiated the meningococcal B vaccine series.
Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). Adolescents 16 years of age are recommended to receive a meningococcal conjugate (MenACWY) booster dose and talk with their health care provider if they should get meningococcal B (MenB) vaccine.
Three vaccine series (County)
Three vaccine series (Zip code)
Tdap (County)
Tdap (Zip code)
MenACWY (County)
MenACWY (Zip code)
HPV initiation (County)
HPV initiation (Zip code)
HPV completion (County)
HPV completion (Zip code)
MenB (County)
MenB (Zip code)
MenACWY booster (County)
MenACWY booster (Zip code)
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated with the three adolescent vaccines (Tdap, MenACWY, and HPV series completion), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). Series includes: tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine; meningococcal (MenACWY) vaccine; and series completion of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated with the three adolescent vaccines (Tdap, MenACWY, and HPV series completion), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). Series includes: tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine; meningococcal (MenACWY) vaccine; and series completion of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 19-year-olds vaccinated with the first meningococcal group B vaccine (MenB), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 19-year-olds vaccinated with the first meningococcal group B vaccine (MenB), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated for meningococcal disease: A, C, W, and Y (MenACWY), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated for meningococcal disease: A, C, W, and Y (MenACWY), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 19-year-olds vaccinated with the booster for meningococcal disease: A, C, W, and Y (MenACWY), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 19-year-olds vaccinated with the booster for meningococcal disease: A, C, W, and Y (MenACWY), 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated with the first human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated with the first human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated with a completed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series, 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Percent of 13-year-olds vaccinated with a completed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series, 2024
Data for 2024. Source: Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC). To protect privacy, data are suppressed where there are less than 10 people in the MIIC population.
Data are based on vaccination records in the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC), a confidential immunization information system. Immunization records in MIIC are submitted by participating health care providers.
For each year of data, MIIC analyzes children that are 24-35 months of age as of July of that year and were up-to-date on their immunizations at 24 months.
For example (2023 Data): Vaccination coverage among children 24-35 months of age in MIIC. Includes children born July 2020 through June 2021 who were up-to-date at 24 months. Analyzed as of July 2023.
Note: In 2015, there was a change in methodology for calculating up-to-date rates. Previously, the denominator only included children 24-35 months of age with two or more non-influenza vaccinations on their MIIC record. The numerator included all children in this group who were up-to-date at time of analysis. Beginning in 2015, the denominator includes all children 24-35 months of age in MIIC, and the numerator only includes children in this group who were up-to-date at 24 months.
Kindergarten immunizations
Schools are required to report the immunization or exemption status of their students to MDH each year through the Annual Immunization Status Report (AISR).
School health staff use several different sources for student vaccination data, such as health care provider vaccination records, the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC), parent supplied vaccination records, and vaccination records from other schools a child has attended.
Adolescent immunizations
Data are based on vaccination records in the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC), a confidential immunization information system. Immunization records in MIIC are submitted by participating health care providers.
For each year of data, MIIC analyzes adolescents 13 and 19 years of age as of July of that year and were up-to-date on their immunizations at age 13 years or age 19 years.
For example (2023 data): Vaccination coverage among adolescents 13 and 19 years of age in MIIC. Includes adolescents born July 2009 through June 2010 who were up to date at age 13 years and adolescents born July 2003 through June 2004 who were up to date at age 19 years. Data analyzed as of July 2023.
Data Questions
Childhood and adolescent immunizations The childhood and adolescent immunization data can be used to monitor state- and county-level immunization coverage and progress towards national, state, and local coverage goals. The data can also help to identify populations at risk for vaccine-preventable disease and encourage public health actions and policies aimed at increasing immunization.
Kindergarten immunizations
To identify communities with low immunization rates, which can help when working with local partners to provide reliable information about vaccines, determine any barriers preventing vaccination, and evaluate efforts to increase immunization rates.
To target outreach and public health messages in communities with lower vaccination rates to increase protection.
To identify schools and school districts that are at higher risk for a vaccine preventable disease outbreak.
To identify schools that need technical assistance related to the immunization requirements.
The immunization data and measures cannot tell us why children are not up-to-date. Some children may not have ready access to all the recommended vaccines, and some parents may choose not to vaccinate. Also, some children may have received vaccinations that are not recorded in MIIC.
Childhood and adolescent immunizations (MIIC) Although MIIC is a useful resource for real-time assessments of state and county immunization percentages in Minnesota, MIIC data may underestimate the actual percent of children receiving vaccines due to several limitations:
Health care provider participation in MIIC is voluntary. Although approximately 90 percent of Minnesota health care providers routinely submit immunization data to MIIC, not all those who participate report every dose of vaccine administered, nor historical immunizations reported by the patient.
The data in MIIC may include children who have moved elsewhere, artificially inflating the denominator. When a child moves out of Minnesota, their MIIC record may not be updated to reflect their move, so the child may be mistakenly counted as a resident who is not up-to-date on their vaccinations.
Cross border-state immunization data exchange is limited to Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Iowa. Vaccines received in Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Iowa by Minnesota residents are in MIIC, but there is no similar data exchange with South Dakota at this time.
There was a nationwide shortage of Hib vaccine from December 2007 to September 2009. This shortage reduced immunization coverage percentages for Hib and the childhood series in the 2010 MIIC data.
Kindergarten immunizations (AISR)
The data reported to MDH does not indicate vaccination status of individual students. Only aggregate grade-level data is reported to MDH.
The data are combined for three school years, and they may not reflect current immunization coverage levels in schools and communities. Students who were not up-to-date when initially enrolling in school may have since been vaccinated.
Student vaccination records are collected by school staff. School staff summarize the student-level data and report grade-level data to MDH during the fall of each school year. MDH does not have the ability to verify the accuracy of the data that is being submitted by schools.
Students with exemptions may be partially vaccinated; however, because MDH does not collect individual student level data, we are unable to verify the immunization status of students with exemptions.
Childhood series vaccines recommended* by 24 months
4 doses of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP) vaccine
3 doses of polio vaccine
1 dose of measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine
2-4** doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine
3 doses of Hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine
1*** dose of varicella (chickenpox) vaccine
2-4** doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) vaccine
**Adolescents younger than age 15 years are recommended to receive 2 doses of vaccine. Immunocompromised adolescents at any age are recommended to receive 3 doses.
***Men B vaccine is recommended for adolescents aged 16 – 23 years. The preferred age range to receive this vaccine is 16 – 18 years. The number of doses depends on the vaccine product and special health and situation considerations.
