COVID-19, Politicization, and Vaccine Hesitancy: A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Non-Medical Exemptions in Minnesota, 2014-2024

Authors

• Benjamin Arnold, Macalester CollegeFollow

Document Type

Honors Project - Open Access

Abstract

Vaccination rates have declined due to the growing hesitancy by many parents to vaccinate their children, signified by an increasing amount of non-medical exemptions. While there has been previous spatial analysis of exemption patterns as a threat to herd immunity, there has not been much post-COVID. This analysis provides a modern analysis of changing exemption clustering in Minnesota, while also considering the impact of public health being increasingly politicized. We used kindergarten vaccination data for 1475 elementary schools to analyze the evolution of clustering and predictors of NMEs across space and time in Minnesota, from 2014 to 2024.

Recommended Citation

Arnold, Benjamin, "COVID-19, Politicization, and Vaccine Hesitancy: A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Non-Medical Exemptions in Minnesota, 2014-2024" (2026). Geography Honors Projects. 85.
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/geography_honors/85