Public trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is declining and has fallen to its lowest point since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new poll released Thursday from KFF.
The findings reflect the toll taken by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s significant changes in federal vaccine policy, such as revising the childhood vaccine schedule, narrowing recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine, replacing every member of a vaccine advisory panel and firing the CDC director.
Half of the public now say they have either “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the CDC to provide reliable vaccine information, down from 57 percent in July and 63 percent in September 2023.
However, doctors remain the most trusted source of information. More than 60 percent of respondents said they trust vaccine information from the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), respectively.
Both groups have been publicly critical of Kennedy’s vaccine moves and were among the organizations that saw their experts removed from the workgroups that help inform the recommendations of the influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
“It’s encouraging if far from ideal that as trust in our nation’s scientific agencies crumbles, the public does trust the professional associations who have stepped forward,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement.
Yet trust in sources of vaccine information is largely partisan.
According to the poll, 64 percent of Democrats said they are most likely to trust the CDC on vaccines, but that number is down 24 percentage points since 2023.
Only 39 percent of Republicans said they trust the CDC’s vaccine information, but 67 percent said they trust Kennedy.
On Kennedy himself, the poll found majorities of the public disapprove of his overall job performance as well as his handling of vaccine policy.
Only about four in ten adults said they “strongly” or “somewhat” approved of the way Kennedy is handling his job as Secretary of HHS, while 59 percent said they either “somewhat” or “strongly” disapprove of his job performance.
The poll found similar levels of approval on Kennedy’s handling of vaccine policy. About four in ten adults said they approve, compared to six in ten who disapproved.
The survey was conducted starting September 23, the day after Kennedy, President Trump and other health officials warned that taking Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism in children despite no new evidence proving a direct causation.
Studies are mixed, and most experts say much more research is needed. Acetaminophen is considered one of the only safe pain relievers to take during pregnancy when used appropriately, and not taking it, particularly for the treatment of fevers, can carry risks for the fetus.
The poll found three quarters of the public had heard the claim, and many said they weren’t sure if it was true.
While just 4 percent said the claim was “definitely true,” 60 percent— including 64 percent of parents— said it was either “probably true” or “probably false.” Majorities of women, including women under the age of 50, Republicans, independents, and Republican women all expressed uncertainty about the validity of the claim.
About a third of the public said the claim was “definitely false.”
Like many of the other findings, the poll found public perception of the acetaminophen autism claim is closely tied to partisanship. Most Republicans, including over half of Republican women, said it is either “probably” or “definitely true.”
Just 12 percent of Republicans said the claim is “definitely false,” while 59 percent of Democrats said it was false.
The poll reached 1,344 people. The margin of sampling error the full sample was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
