Trust in measles vaccines falls in US, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Some 76 per cent of Americans said they believe vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella are safe for kids, down from 84 per cent in a May 2020 Reuters/Ipsos poll.
WASHINGTON – Americans’ trust in vaccines for deadly childhood diseases, including measles, has fallen in recent years, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found, a troubling sign for the country as it experiences its worst measles outbreaks in decades.
The four-day poll, completed on Sept 14, showed that a bipartisan majority of the nation still backs vaccinating children against measles, a disease that largely disappeared from the US for more than two decades until a resurgence took hold in recent years following a decline in vaccination rates.
Some 76 per cent of Americans said they believe vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella are safe for kids, down from 84 per cent in a May 2020 Reuters/Ipsos poll. The declining trust was most pronounced among Republicans, as some in the party have downplayed the importance of vaccines.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in August that called for reducing the number of immunisations on the federal childhood vaccination schedule from 17 to 11. The Republican President’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, was a long-time anti-vaccine activist before Trump made him health secretary. In that role, he has sought to overhaul US vaccine policy, pushing for fewer vaccines for children.
Pennsylvania, Utah and South Carolina are grappling with measles outbreaks in 2026. Pennsylvania announced three measles-related deaths in recent weeks. The country has tallied more than 3,000 confirmed infections in 2026, the most in 35 years.
Measles, which can cause symptoms including fever, rash and respiratory issues, is highly contagious but easily preventable with the measles, mumps and rubella combination vaccine, a routine shot for children that is 97 per cent effective in preventing infection after two doses. It is typically given at age 12 months to 15 months and then again at age four years to six years.
Average US vaccination coverage among kindergarten children dropped in 2025 to 92.5 per cent, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, below the 95 per cent level experts say is necessary to achieve so-called herd immunity that can protect those in the community unable to get the vaccine.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed just 19 per cent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the measles outbreak, compared with 52 per cent who disapprove. The rest said they did not have a view or did not answer the question.
Trump has rarely spoken about the measles outbreak, even as the US is widely expected to lose its measles elimination status later in 2026 after outbreaks that began in 2025 led to sustained transmission. That is a once-unthinkable milestone for a country that had prided itself on eradicating the disease more than two decades ago through high vaccination rates.
Registered voters in the Reuters/Ipsos survey picked Democrats over Republicans by 45 per cent to 25 per cent when asked which party has a better approach to stopping infectious diseases like measles.
That might be worrisome for some Republicans as the party seeks to keep control of Congress in the Nov 3 midterm elections, though vaccines and disease are far from the top concerns to voters.
Some 31 per cent of voters said they were very worried about measles outbreaks, compared with 58 per cent who said the same about their cost of living.
After Pennsylvania announced two measles-related deaths in August, Kennedy again repeated the false claim that the MMR vaccine contains aborted foetus debris and cast doubt on whether measles played a role in the deaths. Pennsylvania announced a third measles-related death this week.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online and nationwide, gathered responses from 1,143 US adults and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. REUTERS
