Key Takeaways
- As Senate committee hearings begin for President Donald Trump’s nominees for key health positions, the latest KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust finds that public trust in government health agencies has fallen over the past 18 months, continuing a decline that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The share who says they trust the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to make the right recommendations on health dropped slightly from 66% in June 2023 to 61% now, while trust in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state and local public health officials each dropped by double digits (from 65% to 53% and 64% to 54%, respectively). Individual doctors remain the most trusted source of health information, although the share saying they trust their own doctor “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to make the right health recommendations also declined from 93% to 85% over the same period.
- Partisan differences in trust in government health agencies that emerged during the pandemic remain, as Democrats are about 30 percentage points more likely than Republicans to say they trust the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make the right recommendations on health (73% vs. 42%), with similar partisan gaps in trust for agencies that fall under HHS including CDC, the FDA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and scientists working for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The opposite pattern is true when it comes to trust in President Trump’s picks to run some of those agencies. Overall, about four in ten say they trust President Trump (42%), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (43%), and Dr. Mehmet Oz (43%) “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to make the right recommendations when it comes to health. This includes few Democrats (7%, 7%, and 14% respectively) compared to about eight in ten Republicans. In fact, similar shares of Republicans say they trust President Trump (84%), Dr. Oz (83%), and RFK Jr. (81%) as say they trust their own doctors (84%) to make the right recommendations on health issues.
- While large shares of the public continue to express positive attitudes toward childhood vaccines and school vaccination requirements, some trends suggest the level of support may be eroding somewhat among Republicans and parents. About eight in ten (82%) parents say they normally keep their children up to date with recommended childhood vaccines like the MMR, while about one in six (17%) report delaying or skipping some shots, up from 10% in 2023. The change is most pronounced among Republican and Republican-leaning parents, about one in four (26%) of whom now report skipping or delaying some vaccines for their children, up from 13% in 2023.
- The false claim that the MMR vaccines have been proven to cause autism continues to persist, with most adults – including parents – falling in the “malleable middle,” expressing some level of uncertainty about whether this claim is true or false. Parents who believe or are open to believing the falsehood that the MMR vaccines have been proven to cause autism are about four times more likely as those who say this myth is “definitely” or “probably false” to report delaying or skipping vaccines for their children (37% vs. 8%).
- Despite some shifts in overall vaccine attitudes, the latest KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust finds strong support for public school vaccine requirements. Eight in ten (83%) U.S. adults say public schools should require some vaccines for students, allowing for health and religious exceptions, including large majorities of Democrats (93%), independents (85%), and Republicans (75%). At the same time, much of the public is confused about the federal government’s role in school vaccine requirements, with about a third correctly answering that the federal government makes recommendations for which vaccines schools should require. The remainder either incorrectly believe the federal government sets these requirements or say they are not sure.
- Beyond childhood vaccines, myths about COVID-19 vaccines continue to persist and may be becoming entrenched among some Republicans. Four in ten Republicans now say it is “probably” or “definitely true” that “more people have died from COVID-19 vaccines than from the virus itself,” up from one quarter in 2023. In fact, the COVID-19 vaccine has been estimated to have prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. alone.
- When asked about the H5N1 bird flu in the U.S., most adults are not concerned about themselves or a family member getting sick, though 44% are “very” or “somewhat concerned” there will be a widespread outbreak in the U.S. Looking toward the future, four in ten adults say that compared to 2020, the U.S. government is now more prepared to deal with another pandemic or widespread health crisis, while about one in four (26%) say the U.S. is less prepared, and one-third (34%) say it is just as prepared as it was. Similar shares of adults across partisanship, age, race, and ethnicity say the government is more prepared than it was before.
Public Trust in Key Health Agencies Has Declined
At the start of President Trump’s second presidential term, the public is divided along partisan lines in their trust in key government health agencies. Over the past several months, President Trump and his political allies have publicly challenged these health-related agencies and discussed cutting some of their funding as part of an effort aimed at increasing government efficiency.
Trust in U.S. government health agencies declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, most notably following the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. KFF tracking polls between 2020 and 2022 showed declining trust, especially among Republicans, in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), local public health departments, and Dr. Anthony Fauci as sources of reliable information on COVID-19 and the vaccines. The latest KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust finds that when it comes to health information more generally, trust in the FDA, CDC, and state and local public health officials remains partisan and has continued to decline. The share who says they trust the CDC “a great deal” or “fair amount” has fallen slightly overall (from 66% in June 2023 to 61% in the latest poll), driven by a nine-percentage point drop among Republicans (from 48% to 39%). The public’s trust of the FDA to make the right recommendations on health has also fallen (from 65% to 53%), as has trust in state and local public health officials (from 64% to 54%), including similar decreases among Republicans, Democrats, and independents.
While large shares of adults continue to trust their own doctors to make the right recommendations when it comes to health issues, this share also decreased from June 2023 by eight percentage points overall (from 93% to 85%), driven by a drop among Republicans (from 94% to 84%) and independents (93% to 84%). Doctors continue to be the most trusted source of health information, but this decrease in trust may reflect a trend of declining trust in professions across industries.
Despite some declining trust in government health agencies, two-thirds of adults say they trust scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (66%) to make the right recommendations on health, and about six in ten trust the CDC (61%). Slightly more than half say they trust the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (55%), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) (54%), their state and local public health officials (54%), and the FDA (53%) when it comes to health recommendations. Fewer – about four in ten – say they trust President Trump (42%) and his choices for key health-related positions, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the nominee for Secretary of HHS (43%), and Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Trump’s choice to lead CMS (43%).
Notably, fewer than one in four U.S. adults say they trust any of these government agencies or individuals “a great deal” when it comes to making health recommendations.
Apart from individual doctors, who garner trust from a large majority of Democrats, independents, and Republicans, there are stark partisan differences in trust in government agencies and individuals on health issues. Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to express trust in government institutions and federal agencies, including HHS (73% vs 42%), CMS (75% vs 38%), CDC (85% vs. 39%), and the FDA (71% vs. 39%). On the other hand, much larger shares of Republicans compared to Democrats say they trust President Trump and his health care nominees to oversee these agencies. While few Democrats trust President Trump or his nominees, similar shares of Republicans say they trust President Trump (84%), Dr. Oz (83%), and RFK Jr. (81%) as the shares that say they trust their own doctors (84%) to make the right recommendations on health issues.
Shifting Attitudes Toward Childhood Vaccines, Particularly Among Republican Parents
While large shares of the public continue to express positive attitudes toward childhood vaccines and school vaccination requirements, some trends in the latest KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust suggest that support may be eroding somewhat among Republicans and parents. In the latest poll, about eight in ten (82%) parents say they normally keep their child up to date with recommended childhood vaccines like the MMR, while about one in six (17%) report delaying or skipping some shots. This marks a slight change from KFF polls fielded from 2021 to 2023, when about nine in ten parents consistently reported staying on schedule. The share of parents who report skipping or delaying some vaccines has increased by seven percentage points since September 2023, driven largely by Republican-leaning parents. Now, about one in four (26%) Republican and Republican-leaning parents report vaccine delays for their children, about twice the 13% who said the same in 2023. The rise in reported vaccination delays among Republican parents mirrors a growing partisan divide on attitudes toward childhood vaccinations among the general public, and is consistent with a KFF analysis of data from the CDC that found that parents are increasingly seeking non-medical exemptions from school vaccine requirements.
Most of the public continues to believe that the benefits of childhood vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) outweigh the risks, though this share has declined since 2019. Currently, eight in ten adults say, “The benefits of childhood vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) outweigh the risks,” while about one in five (18%) say the risks of these vaccines “outweigh the benefits.”
While large shares of adults continue to say the benefits outweigh the risks, there has been a widening partisan gap on this question. Consistently since 2019, about nine in ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the benefits of MMR vaccines outweigh the risks, while Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are now 15 percentage points less likely than in 2019 to share this view (74% now vs. 89% in 2019).
Among parents of children under age 18, the large majority say the benefits of the MMR vaccine outweigh the risks, but one in four now say the risks outweigh the benefits, up from 17% in 2022. Like the public overall, parents are divided along partisan lines when weighing the risks and benefits of childhood vaccines. Republican and Republican-leaning parents are about twice as likely as Democratic and Democratic-leaning parents to say, “the risks of childhood vaccines for MMR outweigh the benefits” (15% vs. 33%).
Most Parents are Uncertain About MMR Autism Myth
Amid shifting attitudes toward childhood vaccines, many adults – including parents – continue to report hearing myths that MMR vaccines are linked to autism, and many are uncertain about whether to believe this false claim. About two-thirds (63%) of adults overall and parents (67%) say they have heard the false claim that the MMR vaccines have been proven to cause autism in children, a claim that began with a since-retracted study in the 1990s and has recently been associated with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The share reporting they have heard this claim remains unchanged since 2023.
As previous KFF polls have found when it comes to health misinformation on a range of topics, many adults fall in the “malleable middle,” expressing some level of uncertainty about this false health claim. Just three percent of adults say it is “definitely true” that the MMR vaccines have been proven to cause autism in children. A larger share (20%) is open to believing the myth, saying it is “probably true,” while many lean toward the correct answer but still express uncertainty, saying the claim is “probably false” (41%). One-third of adults say it is “definitely false.” Most Republicans and independents fall into this malleable middle category, with substantial shares saying the claim is “probably false,” while half of Democrats say this claim is “definitely false.” Notably, just about one in ten parents who identify or lean Republican (11%) say this claim is “definitely false.”
Belief in the myth that the MMR vaccine causes autism is correlated with parents’ decisions about their children’s vaccinations. Among parents who say it is “probably” or “definitely” true that the MMR vaccines have been proven to cause autism, nearly four in ten (37%) say they have delayed or skipped some childhood vaccines for their children, compared to just eight percent of parents who say this myth is “probably” or “definitely” false.
COVID-19 Vaccine Myths Persist
In the five years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, myths related to the virus and the vaccine persist. First explored in the KFF Health Misinformation Tracking Poll, myths related to COVID-19 are widespread, and many adults are not confident in assessing their validity. The latest poll finds that nearly half (46%) of adults report hearing the falsehood that “more people have died from the COVID-19 vaccines than have died from the COVID-19 virus.” This share has increased slightly from about four in ten (41%) in 2023, driven by a large increase among Republicans. About half (52%) of Republicans say they have heard or read this false claim, up from about one in three (35%) in June 2023. Slightly more than four in ten Democrats reported hearing this myth in each poll.
Few adults (8%) say the false claim that “more people have died from COVID-19 vaccines than have died from the COVID-19 virus” is “definitely true,” but levels of certainty vary widely by partisanship, and an increasing share of Republicans is open to endorsing this false claim. About four in ten adults (43%) recognize this claim as “definitely false,” including one in five Republicans (20%) and more than three times as many Democrats (65%). While most Republicans lean toward this claim being false, four in ten say it is “definitely true” (13%) or “probably true” (27%), an increase from one in four in June 2023, when 7% of Republicans said this was “definitely true” and 18% said it was “probably true.”
Views of School Vaccine Requirements
Despite some shifts in overall vaccine attitudes, the latest KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust finds strong support for public school vaccine requirements. Eight in ten (83%) U.S. adults say public schools should require some vaccines for students, allowing for health and religious exceptions, including large majorities of Democrats (93%), independents (85%) and Republicans (75%). One in six adults say public schools should not require any vaccinations, rising to one in four Republicans. Like the general public, parents are divided on this issue along partisan lines. Three in four (75%) parents overall say public schools should have some vaccine requirements, while one in four say public schools should not have any vaccine requirements, rising to one in three Republican or Republican-leaning parents (34%). The vast majority of Democratic-leaning parents (93%) say public schools should require some vaccines.
Although President Trump said on the campaign trail that he would cut federal funding to schools with vaccine mandates, a previously released report from this KFF survey found that few adults across partisans say this should be a priority for the Trump administration.
The Role of the Federal Government in School Vaccine Requirements
Despite strong support for school vaccine mandates, there are gaps in what the public understands about the role of the federal government in this arena. The public is split, with about one-third of adults aware the federal government makes recommendations for which vaccines school-age children should receive (36%), one-third incorrectly saying that the federal government currently sets requirements for which vaccines school-age children get (35%), and about three in ten unsure (28%). Parents and adults across partisans are similarly divided in their knowledge of the federal government’s role in providing vaccine recommendations for children.
While many are unsure about the federal government’s role in vaccine recommendations, a large majority of the public trust the CDC “a great deal” (30%) or “a fair amount” (39%) to make recommendations about childhood vaccines. As is the case with trust in government health agencies generally, partisans differ in how much they trust the CDC to make these recommendations, with nearly nine in ten Democrats saying they trust the CDC “a great deal” or “a fair amount” (87%) in this area, compared to just over half (54%) of Republicans.
Pandemic Preparedness and Avian Flu
The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the challenges that can arise when public health agencies are required to communicate rapidly evolving scientific information to a sometimes-skeptical public. Declining trust in government and health agencies, a trend that began during the COVID-19 pandemic and that this poll indicates is continuing today, suggests that these communication challenges are likely to continue and perhaps intensify the next time the U.S. is faced with a pandemic or widespread health crisis. Despite declining trust, larger shares of the public across partisans say the government is more prepared rather than less prepared for another pandemic than it was five years ago. Four in ten adults say that compared to 2020, the U.S. government is now more prepared to deal with another pandemic or widespread health crisis, while about one in four (26%) say the U.S. is less prepared and one-third (34%) say it is just as prepared as it was. Similar shares of adults across partisanship, age, race, and ethnicity say the government is more prepared than it was before.
Since the spring of 2024, H5N1 avian influenza has impacted people and animals in the U.S. and Canada. At the time of this survey, CDC indicated the current public health risk of bird flu is low. Although there have been some cases of people infected with bird flu, there has yet to be human-to-human transmission. As of early January 2025, about half (49%) of the public has heard at least “some” about recent human cases of bird flu in the U.S., including one in ten (11%) who has heard “a lot.” One-third (33%) of adults has heard “a little” and one in five (18%) has heard “nothing at all.” Awareness is low across most demographic groups, though Democrats and those ages 65 and over are among those most likely to say they’ve heard “a lot” (15% and 17%, respectively).
Forty-four percent of U.S. adults are “very” or “somewhat concerned” that there will be a widespread outbreak of bird flu in the U.S., while fewer (34%) say they are concerned that they or a family member will get sick. While most adults are not concerned about bird flu, majorities of Hispanic adults (64%), Democrats (58%), and adults in lower income households (54%) express concern about a widespread outbreak of bird flu. Each of these groups is also more likely than their counterparts to be concerned that they and their families will get sick.