Public trust in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remains near its lowest point since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a KFF Tracking Poll published today.
“Six years ago, 85% of Americans, and 90% of Republicans, trusted the CDC. Now less than half trust the CDC on vaccines,” KFF President and CEO Drew Altman, PhD, said in a news release. “The wars over COVID, science, and vaccines have left the country without a trusted national voice on vaccines, and that trust will take time to restore.”
The survey, conducted January 13 to 20 among 1,426 US adults (margin of error, plus or minus 3 percentage points), comes amid ongoing restructuring of federal health agencies and vaccine advisory panels, turnover among CDC leadership, and broad revisions to federal vaccine policy made in the absence of supporting evidence.
In January, under the leadership of US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC began recommending childhood immunizations against 11 rather than 17 diseases, moving the influenza, COVID, and hepatitis B vaccines from being universally recommended to a shared clinical decision-making framework. Under that framework, vaccination is determined through discussion with a provider rather than advised for all children. The move has positioned the United States as an outlier among peer nations.
Trust in CDC drops, especially among Democrats
In the current poll, less than half of adults (47%) say they have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the CDC to provide reliable vaccine information. Trust among Democrats has fallen 9 percentage points since September 2025 (from 64% to 55%), which is down significantly from 88% in September 2023. Among Republicans, trust in the CDC as a source of reliable vaccine information is 43%; among independents, it’s 46%. Those figures are largely unchanged from September 2025.
Confidence in the CDC’s revised childhood vaccine schedule is similarly low.
Most adults (56%) say they have “little” to “no confidence” in federal health agencies to make recommendations for childhood vaccines, with three in 10 respondents (29%) saying they have no confidence “at all.”
Lack of confidence in federal health guidance isn’t limited to childhood vaccines. Less than half of US adults (46%) have at least “some” confidence in federal health agencies’ ability to guarantee the safety and effectiveness of vaccines approved for use in the United States. Only 38% believe federal health agencies make decisions based on science rather than personal beliefs, and just 34% think federal officials make decisions without interference from outside interests.
Vaccine schedule changes not rebuilding trust
About half of adults say they have heard “a lot” (14%) or “some” (38%) about the changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. Among those who are aware of the changes, 54% say they will have a negative impact on children’s health, compared with 26% who say the impact will be positive.
Partisan divides are stark. Among Democrats who have heard about the changes, 83% say they will negatively affect children’s health. Nearly half of Republicans (47%) who are aware of the changes say they will have a positive impact, while 23% say they will have a negative impact and 20% are unsure.
Among those aware of the changes, 53% say the shift makes them less trusting of federal health agencies, compared with 14% who say it increases their trust. Kennedy has previously said that the changes to the childhood vaccine schedule would rebuild trust in public health.
Majority disapprove of Kennedy’s performance
The poll also finds that most Americans disapprove of Kennedy’s performance as HHS Secretary and his handling of US vaccine policy. Overall, 55% disapprove of how Kennedy is handling his role, compared with 44% who say they approve.
On vaccine policy specifically, 57% say they disapprove of the changes. and 43% say they approve.
Once again, views are sharply divided along partisan lines. Large majorities of Democrats disapprove of Kennedy’s job performance and vaccine policy handling, while most Republicans say they approve. Among supporters of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, roughly seven in 10 approve of Kennedy’s overall performance (72%) and his handling of vaccine policy (69%).
Confidence varies by vaccine
Most adults remain confident in specific vaccines: 82% say they are confident in the safety of polio vaccines and 81% in measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines, including half who are “very confident” in both vaccines.
Confidence is lower for vaccines recently moved off the routine vaccine schedule, with 70% expressing confidence in hepatitis B vaccine safety and 65% in flu vaccine safety. Confidence is lowest for COVID vaccines: 48% say they are confident in their safety for children, and 31% say they are “not at all confident.”
The findings suggest that confidence in specific vaccines remains relatively strong, even as overall trust in federal vaccine guidance trends downward.
