Trust in the CDC has fallen sharply over the past year, according to a June report from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston and the de Beaumont Foundation’s Public Health Listening Lab.
The poll surveyed 2,205 U.S. adults between March 19 and April 1. The results build on a trend documented earlier in 2026, when a KFF poll found CDC trust declining across party lines following changes to the agency’s vaccine advisory committee and its recommended childhood immunization schedule.
Here are four things to know from the study:
- Fifty percent of respondents said they trust the CDC’s health recommendations, down from 77% in spring 2025.
- Seventy percent of respondents said they trust local public health agencies, while 66% said they trust state public health agencies.
- Fifty-five percent said they disapprove of actions taken by federal public health agencies since early 2025. Additionally, 68% said recommendations have been influenced too much by leaders’ personal beliefs, 66% said leaders are focused on the wrong priorities and 61% said programs have been cut or scaled back too much.
- Seventy-seven percent of respondents said parents should be required to vaccinate children to attend school. At the same time, the share of respondents who described childhood vaccines as “very safe” fell to 57%, down from 63% in 2025.
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