WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Fewer Americans today consider childhood vaccines important, with 40% saying it is extremely important for parents to have their children vaccinated, down from 58% in 2019 and 64% in 2001. There has been a similar decline in the combined “extremely” and “very important” percentage, which was 94% in 2001 but sits at 69% today.
The July 1-21 poll also finds 17% of Americans saying it is somewhat important that parents get their children vaccinated, while 5% say it is not very important and 7% say it is not at all important. In 2001, 1% said having children vaccinated was not at all important.
Republican-Aligned Americans Account for Decrease in Importance
The declining belief in the importance of vaccines is essentially confined to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, as the views of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have changed little over the past 24 years. Twenty-six percent of Republicans and Republican leaners -- half as many as in 2019 -- believe it is extremely important for parents to get their children vaccinated. In the initial Â鶹´«Ã½AV poll on vaccinations, Republicans and Republican leaners (62%) held similar views to Democrats and Democratic leaners (66%); the two groups now differ by 37 percentage points.
A slim majority of Republicans and Republican leaners (52%) now say it is either extremely or very important for parents to get their children vaccinated. That compares with 93% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. Eleven percent of Republicans and Republican leaners do not think it is important at all for children to be vaccinated.
Among parents of children under 18, 29% say it is extremely important to have children vaccinated, and 29% say it is very important. In 2019, the figures for parents were 54% and 23%, respectively. There is not a large enough sample of parents to analyze responses by Republican versus Democratic parents.
Bare Majority Say Government Should Require Vaccinations
Consistent with the decline in the perceived importance of vaccines, Americans are now much less likely than in the past to say the government should require children to be vaccinated against contagious diseases such as measles. Fifty-one percent now hold this view, down from 62% in 2019. The question was also asked in a 1991 poll by Princeton Survey Research Associates, which found 81% in favor of vaccine requirements at that time.
Again, Republicans largely account for this change:
- Thirty-six percent of Republicans and Republican leaners believe the government should require vaccines, compared with 53% in 2019. Most Republicans, 60%, now oppose government vaccine mandates.
- Democrats’ views on the matter have shown no meaningful change -- 69% believe this now, and 72% did so in 2019.
The 1991 study did not measure respondents’ party identification, so it is not possible to know how partisans’ views have changed since then.
Increase in Vaccine Skepticism Comes as Knowledge of Vaccine Advantages Steady
Even as Americans have become less likely to believe children should be vaccinated, there has been no change since 2019 in the percentage of those who say they have heard about the advantages of childhood vaccinations. In the past five years, there has also been a decline in the percentage who have heard about the possible disadvantages of vaccines.
- Eighty-eight percent of U.S. adults currently say they have heard a great deal (53%) or fair amount (35%) about the advantages of vaccinations, similar to the 89% recorded in 2019.
- Meanwhile, 63% report hearing a great deal (27%) or fair amount (36%) about the possible disadvantages of vaccinations for children. This is down from 79% in 2019.
Longer term, public familiarity with the advantages and possible disadvantages of vaccinations is broader today than in 2001, when 73% said they had heard a great deal or fair amount about advantages and 39% about disadvantages.
Vast majorities of both Democrats and Democratic leaners (95%) and Republicans and Republican leaners (82%) have heard about the advantages of vaccines. Fewer in each group -- 68% of Republicans and 61% of Democrats -- report hearing about vaccine disadvantages.
Since 2019, Republicans have become slightly less likely to say they have heard about vaccine advantages (down eight points), which is offset by a slight increase (of five points) among Democrats. Both party groups have shown double-digit declines since 2019 in the percentages saying they have heard about vaccine disadvantages.
Increasing Percentage of Americans Regard Vaccines as More Dangerous Than Diseases
The poll finds a small but growing share of U.S. adults saying vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they are designed to prevent -- 20% now hold this view, up from 11% in 2019 and 6% in 2001.
Seventy-six percent of Americans currently do not believe vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they are designed to prevent, down from 90% in 2001.
Until now, Republicans and Democrats generally held similar views of the net risks and benefits associated with vaccines. Today, 31% of Republicans and Republican leaners think vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they are designed to prevent, compared with 5% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. The current figure for Republicans is up from 12% in 2019 and 6% in 2001.
One of the controversies surrounding vaccinations is a supposed link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. The original research behind that alleged link has been discredited. Still, 13% of U.S. adults believe certain vaccines can cause autism, up from 6% in 2015 and 10% in 2019. About half of Americans are unsure if vaccines cause autism, while 36% say they are not a cause.
As might be expected given their views on vaccines, Republicans and Republican leaners (19%) are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners (4%) to say vaccines can cause autism. Whereas a majority of Democrats say vaccines are not a cause of autism, a majority of Republicans are unsure.
Parents of minor children are slightly more likely than U.S. adults overall to believe vaccines cause autism, with 18% holding this view, 29% saying vaccines do not cause autism and 53% unsure.
Bottom Line
Republicans’ confidence in childhood vaccines has plunged over the past five years, resulting in a significant decline in Americans’ overall belief that these vaccines are important. The changes in attitudes about childhood vaccines were presaged during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Â鶹´«Ã½AV found far fewer Republican (19%) than Democratic parents (90%) saying they would have a young child of theirs (under age 12) vaccinated for COVID-19 once the vaccine was approved for that age group.
This political divide reflected the tendency for Democratic elected officials and party supporters to follow guidance on COVID-19 provided by medical authorities, while Republican elected officials and Republican identifiers were often skeptical of the reliability of that information.
Now, those doubts appear to be extending to childhood vaccines that have long been used to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, as well as the field of science in general.
All U.S. states have immunization requirements for students, though most provide exemptions for medical or religious reasons, and some for philosophical reasons. While Â鶹´«Ã½AV trends show such policies were widely supported in the past, only a slim majority of Americans today believe the government should require all parents to vaccinate their children.
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