Public trust in the CDC is at its lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a KFF poll that asked U.S. adults their thoughts on the CDC’s new childhood immunization schedule.
On Jan. 5, acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill approved changes to the agency’s childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of recommended diseases to target from 17 to 11. Vaccines for hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and meningococcal disease are no longer recommended for all children.
A KFF poll was conducted Jan. 13-20 among a nationally representative sample of 1,426 U.S. adults.
Forty-seven percent of U.S. adults said they trust the CDC “a fair amount” or a “great deal” to provide reliable vaccine information, representing a yearslong decline in trust. In March 2020 — near the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — 85% of U.S. adults had at least “a fair amount” of trust in the federal agency.
When divided by political affiliation, the KFF poll found a sharp decrease in Democrats’ trust in the CDC.
“Slightly more than half (55%) of Democrats now say they trust the CDC on vaccines, down from 64% [in] September,” KFF said in a news release. “About 4 in 10 Republicans say they trust the CDC for vaccine information, similar to the share who said the same a few months ago and in 2023, but fewer than half as many as said they trusted the CDC on the coronavirus back in 2020.”
About half of the public said they had heard about the federal government’s recent changes to the recommended childhood immunization schedule. Among this population, 54% said the revised schedule will have a negative effect on children’s health, while 26% said it will have a positive effect.
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