As President Trump begins his second term, the public’s trust in health information from key health agencies has fallen over the past 18 months, continuing a decline that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, finds the new KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust.
Just over half (53%) of the public now says they trust the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make the right recommendations on health issues at least “a fair amount,” down from nearly two-thirds (65%) in June 2023. The share who says they trust their state and local public health officials fell a similar amount (to 54% now from 64% in 2023). Trust in health recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also dipped slightly from 66% in 2023 to 61% now.
When asked about other health institutions, two-thirds (66%) of the public say they trust scientists at the National Institutes of Health, and just over half trust the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (55%) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) (54%) to make the right recommendations on health issues.
Republicans are far less trustful of each of these health institutions than Democrats, with independents in the middle.
An even larger partisan divide in the opposite direction exists in trust in health information from President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee to be HHS Secretary.
Less than half the public overall trust President Trump (42%) and Kennedy (43%) to make the right recommendations on health issues. Among Republicans, however, similar shares say they trust President Trump (84%) and Kennedy (81%) as say they trust their own doctors (84%).
The public overall continues to place the most trust in their own doctors, though the share who say they trust their own doctors’ health recommendations “a great deal” or “a fair amount” is down from 93% in 2023 to 85% now, mostly due to declining trust among independents and Republicans.
Attitudes Toward Childhood Vaccines Remain Positive, Though Eroding Among Republicans
While large shares of the public continue to express positive attitudes toward childhood vaccines and school vaccination requirements, the poll reveals some erosion in support among Republicans and parents.
About eight in ten (82%) parents of children under age 18 now say they normally keep their child up to date with recommended childhood vaccines such as the one for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), down 8 percentage points from 2023.
About one in six (17%) now report delaying or skipping some shots, up from 10% in 2023. The shift is most pronounced among Republican parents: About one in four (26%) now report skipping or delaying some vaccines for their children, up from 13% in 2023.
A large majority of the public continues to believe that the benefits of the MMR vaccines outweigh the risks (80%), while about one in five (18%) say that the risks outweigh the benefits. Among parents, about seven in 10 (72%) say the vaccines’ benefits outweigh the risks, while a quarter (25%) say the risks outweigh the benefits. Republican-leaning parents are twice as likely as Democratic-leaning parents to say that the vaccines’ risks outweigh the benefits (33% vs. 15%), though large majorities of each group continue to say the benefits outweigh the risks.
During his campaign, President Trump had vowed to cut federal funding to schools with vaccine mandates, though the poll suggests large majorities of the public and of parents across political parties support such requirements.
Among the public overall, 83% say public schools should require some vaccines for students, allowing for health and religious exceptions. This includes large majorities of Democrats (93%), independents (85%) and Republicans (75%).
Among parents, three-quarters (76%) say public schools should require vaccines, while one in four (24%) say they should not. Two-thirds (66%) of Republican and Republican-leaning parents favor schools requiring vaccines, while a third (34%) say that schools should not require any vaccines.
Other findings include:
- 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. Just 3% of adults say this false claim is “definitely true.” One-third (33%) say it is “definitely false.” The rest are somewhat uncertain what to believe, saying the claim is either “probably true” (20%) or “probably false” (41%).
- Parents who say that the false claim that MMR vaccines are proven to cause autism is definitely or probably true are much more likely to say they have delayed or skipped some vaccines for their children than parents who say it definitely or probably false (37% and 8%, respectively).
- When asked about the H5N1 bird flu in the U.S., about one in three (34%) say they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned that they or a family member will get sick. About four in 10 (44%) say they are “very” or “somewhat concerned” that there will be a widespread outbreak in the U.S.
- Looking toward the future, a larger share of adults say the U.S. government is now more prepared (40%) rather than less prepared (26%) to deal with a pandemic or widespread health crisis than it was in 2020. Similar shares of adults across partisanship, age, race, and ethnicity say the government is more prepared than it was before.
Designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at KFF, the survey was conducted Jan. 7-14, 2025, online and by telephone, among a nationally representative sample of 1,310 U.S. adults in English and in Spanish. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full sample. For results based on other subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be higher.