Vaccine Skepticism in U.S. Is Widespread, Politico Poll Reveals

Only 39% indicated they thought that “science on vaccines is clear and it is damaging to question it.”

“When nearly half of the country, regardless of political view, is unsure about vaccine safety, it is clearly no longer a fringe idea to question what we are being told by the mainstream sources we have long been told were the ‘sources of truth,’” Dr. Pierre Kory told The Defender.

Attorney Ray Flores said the survey results mark “the recognition of a tipping point.”

“False assumptions are being challenged across wider segments of the population,” Flores said.

Kory said he used to be “one of those doctors who followed what medical institutions told us.” But his COVID-19 research led him to discover “more accurate, unbiased and transparent” data sources.

Kory founded the Leading Edge Clinic, where he treats long COVID, post-vaccine syndrome and cancer patients. He is a founding member of the Independent Medical Alliance.

Pediatrician Dr. Larry Palevsky said the results didn’t surprise him. “People are thinking more and blindly trusting a lot less. As more of the truths about vaccine science are revealed, I imagine the next poll will show more than half of U.S. adults think the science on vaccines remains up for debate, and that it’s damaging to require people to receive them.”

Palevsky said the science on any topic should always be up for debate. “After all, that’s how science works.”

Public First conducted the survey from March 13-18 on behalf of Politico. The overall margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1.6 percentage points. Results were weighted by age, race, gender, geography and educational level.

Nearly half of country supports individual decision-making and parents’ rights 

Results from the poll revealed that those who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 were even more likely to question vaccine safety, with 54% signaling that vaccine science is still up for debate and that vaccine mandates are damaging.

Only 30% of Trump voters indicated they thought the science on vaccines is clear and that it was damaging to question vaccine science.

Vaccine skepticism was lower among those who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 but still sizable, with over a third (36%) signaling that vaccine science is still up for debate and that vaccine mandates are damaging.

Just over half of Harris supporters (52%) signaled they thought the science on vaccines is clear, and it was damaging to question vaccine science.

“The COVID shot was the moment the curtain got pulled back,” said attorney Rick Jaffe. “People watched in real time as the efficacy claims evaporated, the safety signals piled up, and the officials who were supposed to be protecting them couldn’t stop chanting ‘take every shot and every booster, even three years after the end of the pandemic,’” Jaffe said.

Nearly half (47%) of those polled, regardless of political view, signaled that they thought the government should prioritize individual decision-making over ostensibly protecting public health.

Forty-seven percent of all respondents also thought parents should be the final decision-makers when it comes to their child’s health, even if that means going against what “experts” recommend.

According to Jaffe, the public is ahead of institutions in assessing vaccines’ true risk-benefit profile for children’s health. “The courts haven’t caught up yet, but we have cases working their way through the system right now that will force judges to look past the incantations and examine the actual evidence.”

In a case filed in January, Jaffe represents parents whose children died after receiving vaccines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The suit alleges the AAP violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by making “false and fraudulent” claims about the safety of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s childhood immunization schedule — while receiving funding from vaccine manufacturers and providing financial incentives to pediatricians who achieve high vaccination rates.

Other plaintiffs in the suit include Children’s Health Defense and physicians whose professional reputations were harmed for opposing AAP’s guidelines.

Nearly three-quarters of people who voted for Trump in 2024 want more regulation of pharmaceutical companies.

Poll reveals bipartisan support for other MAHA reforms

According to Politico, the March poll also revealed that the majority of both Democrats and Republicans support other key Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) reforms, including offering whole milk in schools, banning artificial dyes from food and restricting junk food ads targeting kids.

Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, told The Defender:

“This survey makes it clear that Secretary Kennedy’s priorities resonate across party lines. Americans are united on the need to urgently address chronic disease, improve nutrition, strengthen food quality, and lower health care costs.”

In March 2025, Kennedy directed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take steps to eliminate the “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS loophole that allows the use of food ingredients based on food companies’ own assurances that the ingredients are safe, with no safety assessment by the FDA.

However, industry groups have questioned whether the FDA has the legal authority to close the loophole.

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