By Jason Lange and Yasmeen Abutaleb
WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) – 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 Monday, showed that a bipartisan majority of the nation still backs vaccinating children against measles, a disease that largely disappeared from the U.S. for more than two decades until a resurgence took hold in recent years following a decline in vaccination rates.
Some 76% of Americans said they believe vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella are safe for kids, down from 84% 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.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in August that called for reducing the number of immunizations on the federal childhood vaccination schedule from 17 to 11. The Republican president’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was a longtime anti-vaccine activist before Trump made him health secretary. In that role, he has sought to overhaul U.S. vaccine policy, pushing for fewer vaccines for children.
WORST OUTBREAK IN 35 YEARS
Pennsylvania, Utah and South Carolina are grappling with measles outbreaks this year. Pennsylvania announced three measles-related deaths in recent weeks. The country has tallied more than 3,000 confirmed infections this year, 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% effective in preventing infection after two doses. It is typically given at age 12 to 15 months and then again at age 4 to 6 years.
Average U.S. vaccination coverage among kindergarten children dropped last year to 92.5%, according to CDC data, below the 95% 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% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the measles outbreak, compared with 52% who disapprove. The rest said they didn’t have a view or didn’t answer the question.
ONCE-UNTHINKABLE MILESTONE
Trump has rarely spoken about the measles outbreak, even as the U.S. is widely expected to lose its measles elimination status later this year after outbreaks that began last year 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% to 25% 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 November 3 midterm elections, though vaccines and disease are far from the top concerns to voters.
Some 31% of voters said they were very worried about measles outbreaks, compared to 58% who said the same about their cost of living.
After Pennsylvania announced two measles-related deaths last month, Kennedy again repeated the false claim that the MMR vaccine contains aborted fetus 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 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
(Reporting by Jason Lange and Yasmeen Abutaleb in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)
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