The poll comes after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement this spring that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would no longer recommend the vaccine for healthy children or pregnant women, and the CDC subsequently recommended shared decision-making between parents and doctors.
The poll finds that many parents of children under age 18 are confused and uncertain about whether COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for healthy children this year.
About half (48%) of parents say they don’t know whether or not federal agencies recommend healthy children get the vaccine this fall. More say the vaccine is not recommended (31%) than recommended (21%) for healthy children.
When asked about the impact of the changes that Secretary Kennedy is making to vaccine policy, one in five (20%) adults nationally say they are making people safer, while more than a third (36%) say they are making people less safe. Others say that they don't know enough to say (31%) or that the changes won't make a difference (13%).
Views on the impact of the changes split along partisan lines, with Republicans much more likely to say the changes are making people safer (41%) than less safe (9%), and Democrats much more likely to say less safe (62%) than safer (4%). Among independents, more than twice as many say the changes are making people less safe (41%) than safer (16%). At least a quarter of adults across partisans say they don’t know enough to say how the changes will impact people.
