Republicans Increasingly Oppose School-Mandated Vaccines—Though Americans Still Support Childhood Vaccines, Poll Finds

Topline

Support for childhood vaccination remains high after the Covid-19 pandemic despite shifting attitudes toward school mandates and persistent skepticism over coronavirus shots, according to a Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday, a finding that helps mollify widespread fears of plummeting vaccination rates following years of bitter partisan bickering.

Key Facts

Surprising Fact

Attitudes toward vaccinations depended heavily on the vaccine in question, Pew found, and 70% adults who said they had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 said their child had received the MMR shots. Unvaccinated parents were, however, more likely to express concerns over the vaccines, even if they concluded the risks of the MMR shots were outweighed by the benefits. Two-thirds of adults who had not received a Covid-19 vaccine said they worried not all childhood vaccines were necessary, for example, compared to just 25% of fully vaccinated and recently boosted adults and 36% of fully vaccinated but not recently boosted adults.

News Peg

Vaccination became a divisive and contentious issue during the Covid-19 pandemic, intensifying long simmering tensions and splitting the nation alongside largely partisan lines. On the whole, Republicans have been far less likely to accept the shots and more likely to oppose requirements they be mandated, with some going as far as to reject longstanding vaccine requirements for children covering other infections like measles and polio and the topic becoming a rallying cry for political maneuvering. The soaring hesitancy, as illustrated by growing concern among the necessity of vaccinations for kids, prompted fears among health organizations like the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that previously contained childhood illnesses like measles would stage a comeback, particularly given the disruptions the pandemic caused to normal vaccination schedules. Evidence, including this poll, suggests this growing hesitancy may not have translated into a dip in vaccinations, though experts are still concerned about shifting attitudes and laxer requirements. The reemergence of polio, a long-feared childhood scourge capable of paralyzing or killing, and growing measles outbreaks have nevertheless stoked these fears and officials are still working to persuade people of the value of vaccinating against diseases whose impact has largely faded from public consciousness.

Tangent

Vaccine attitudes are heavily politicized. Pew found that seven-in-ten unvaccinated adults identify as Republican or Republican-leaning. In contrast, only two-in-ten unvaccinated adults identified as Democrats or Democrat-leaning.

Further Reading

The Good News About Vaccine Hesitancy (Atlantic)