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By increasing measles cases and substantial awareness of the public about the situation, several new polls have explored vaccines. THE Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and Yougov Released polls in April, based on data Slut And others have gathered for a long time.
Only 6% in KFF poll had not It was heard about the cases of measles growth in recent years, while 56% had. Sixty -three percent said they had heard or read that MMR vaccines had been “proven to cause autism to children”, an answer virtually unchanged by the 2023 poll.
KFF and Yougov asked if people believed these reports. The 3% in the KFF poll said the assertion of autism was certainly true and 20% probably true. Compared to 2023, the answers were stable, but there were distorting differences. Ten percent of the Democrats and 35% of Republicans said that the claim that the vaccine causes autism was certainly or probably true. In a Yougov poll, 8% said the statement “vaccines have been shown to cause autism” was certainly true, while 15% probably said true. When Gallup asked in July 2024 if some vaccines “cause” autism, 13% said they did, 36% were not, with 51% uncertain.
In 2001, 6% told Gallup that the vaccines were more dangerous than the diseases designed to prevent. This was 20% in 2024. In three polls before 2024, about equal small shares of Democrats and Republicans said the vaccines were more dangerous. In 2024, however, there was a 26 -point gap between party.
Eighty -three percent in the KFF poll, including 97% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans, said they were sure that MMR vaccines were safe. In a broader Yougov question, 71% said that the benefits of child vaccines offset the risks, including 89% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans. There was a larger party gap on whether the science on childhood vaccines was established or needed more debate, with 87% of Democrats, but only 57% of Republicans saying it was well established.
Gallup shows a significant reduction in views on whether childhood vaccines should be required, in recent years by Republicans. In 1991, 81% said the government should require parents to vaccinate their children against measles. This is now 51%. Republicans were also much less likely than the Democrats would say that it was very important to vaccinate children (93% to 52%). In Pew Questions in 2019 and 2020, Democrats and Republicans widely agreed that healthy children should be obliged to take vaccines, but in 2023, Republicans were abruptly removed in this respect.
When Yougov asked how much confidence and confidence people had in the federal government when it comes to vaccines, 51% declared many or fair amount. High trust was 63% for CDC, 60% for NIH and 69% for scientific researchers. Eighty -one percent had great confidence in their family doctor. Thirty percent had this level of trust in RFK, younger (while 43% had no) and 27% in Trump. Thirty -eight percent had great confidence in pharmaceutical companies and 25% in the media.
To Yougov research51% said they usually keep up with vaccines, but 36% said they had been delayed or omitted. When asked why they had been delayed, omitted or decided not to get vaccines, the top answers were a lack of confidence in the pharmaceutical companies (15%) or the government (14%). Republicans were more likely than the Democrats will volunteer that they do not like to tell them what to do, though these rates were small.
What do the impressive new differences mean to almost every aspect of this discussion? Misinformation could play a role, but there are other possible explanations. In a Yougov poll, twice as more Republicans that the Democrats said they do not believe they would get sick was a reason to get vaccines. When asked about 10 different vaccines, more Democrats than Republicans said they had each, with the exception of the shingles where there was no difference.
Republicans may generally have a higher risk tolerance, but this does not fully explain large gaps. Republicans have long been more skeptical of the government than the Democrats. For them and others, Covid government policies have exacerbated these emotions, which can now inform the views of the vaccine. It is also possible that like many things in polls today, new divisions are merely indicators of political obedience to a administration that includes some prominent skeptic of vaccines.
