A new national poll reveals strong support for familiar childhood vaccines. Still, partisan divisions, confusion over vaccine schedules, and renewed fears about COVID-19 shots during pregnancy highlight growing challenges for public health messaging.
Study: KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: Fall 2026 Update on Vaccine Views. Image credit: BARANOV OLEKSANDR/Shutterstock.com
A recent KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust examines the views of Americans on vaccine safety and on the government’s attempts to alter vaccination schedules for children, as well as documenting persistent controversy about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The KFF initiative tracks public attitudes toward health information, trust, and misinformation in the US.
National survey captures vaccine views of 1,328 Americans
The KFF survey was conducted online and by telephone, in a nationally representative sample of 1,328 U.S. adults, from September 16–21, 2026. SSRS recruited respondents through the SSRS Opinion Panel and a random-digit-dial telephone sample.
The poll had a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points overall, with larger margins for smaller subgroups.
Most Americans remain confident in established childhood vaccines
Most Americans remained confident in the safety of long-standing childhood vaccines, particularly the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and polio vaccines. At least three-quarters of adults across political groups said they were very or somewhat confident that these vaccines are safe for children.
Confidence was also generally high for hepatitis B and influenza vaccines, at 74% and 68% respectively, although partisan differences were larger. At least eight in 10 Democrats expressed confidence in these vaccines compared with roughly six in 10 Republicans.
COVID-19 vaccine safety divides Democrats and Republicans
The investigators found substantially more polarization around views of COVID-19 vaccine safety. Overall, half of adults said they are confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children. However, party affiliation sharply divided these views.
Confidence ranged from 77% among Democrats to 21% among Republicans, with independents falling between the two.
Most MAHA supporters still trust established childhood vaccines
The survey also examined supporters of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, who make up 42% of the public. Despite the movement’s association with vaccine skepticism, most supporters expressed confidence in several established childhood vaccines.
About 76% expressed confidence in the safety of MMR and polio vaccines for children, 62% in hepatitis B vaccines, and 54% in flu vaccines. However, only 28% were confident about COVID-19 vaccine safety in children.
Overall, vaccine confidence was largely unchanged since KFF’s January and May 2026 polling.
Political affiliation shapes parents’ confidence in childhood vaccines
Among parents of children younger than 18, 64% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents expressed confidence that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children compared with 19% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
For other vaccines, most parents supported MMR and polio vaccine safety, but less so for hepatitis B and flu vaccines, especially among Republicans. When asked if the benefits of MMR vaccination outweighed its risks, 76% of parents agreed while 22% disagreed.
Among parents who are MAHA supporters, 69% said the benefits outweigh the risks, while 29% held contrary views.
Most parents favor MMR despite partisan differences
Parents also believed that the benefits of MMR vaccination outweighed its risks. However, 24% of Republican or Republican-leaning parents said the risks outweighed the benefits, compared with 14% of Democratic or Democratic-leaning parents. The relatively large margins of sampling error for these subgroups warrant caution when interpreting this difference.
Most Americans know little about proposed vaccine changes
The poll was conducted after President Trump signed an executive order in August calling for changes to the childhood vaccination schedule. It called for reducing the number of diseases targeted by routine childhood vaccination from 17 to 11. It also called for separate administration of the three components of the MMR vaccine, among other steps. However, the proposed changes remained blocked in federal courts at the time of the report.
However, 59% of adults and of parents said they had heard either “not much” or “nothing at all” about the most recent changes, compared with 41% who said they had heard “some” or “a lot.” In the January poll, 51% said they had heard at least some about similar vaccine schedule changes announced earlier that year.
More Americans expect harm than benefits from vaccine changes
Overall, 38% were unsure of the impact on children’s health, while 40% thought it would be negative. Only 12% expected positive outcomes, while 9% believed there would be no impact.
Opinions differ substantially by political affiliation. Democrats and independents were much more likely to expect a negative impact. Conversely, half of Republicans were unsure, while 27% expected a positive effect.
Parents were uncertain about the impact of the changes in 36% of cases, with 14% believing they would have no impact. Nearly half of MAHA supporters were unsure, and 23% expected a positive impact.
Negative impacts are more likely to be expected by adults who have heard at least some about the executive order, with 60% saying the changes will have a negative effect compared with 18% who expect a positive effect.
Misconceptions about spacing out childhood vaccines
The poll found similarly divided opinions on whether it is healthier for children to space out vaccines or get multiple vaccines at the same visit. Nearly half of parents believed children are healthier when vaccinations are spaced out, and multiple shots are avoided in a single visit, while 52% said no strong evidence supports this claim.
As before, the opinions were strongly partisan-based. Among Democratic or Democratic-leaning parents, 68% said spacing out vaccines was not supported by strong evidence. In contrast, 69% of Republican or Republican-leaning parents agreed with spacing them out.
KFF notes that there is no evidence that spacing out vaccines is safer for children. However, it previously identified concerns about receiving multiple vaccines at once as one of the leading reasons parents skip or delay vaccinations.
Confidence in COVID-19 vaccine safety during pregnancy declines
The findings come amid renewed public debate over COVID-19 vaccine safety, including false claims linking vaccination during pregnancy to miscarriage that resurfaced during a U.S. Senate investigation involving Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The survey also examined perceptions of COVID-19 vaccine safety during pregnancy. Only 39% of adults were very or somewhat confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant people, down from 53% in May 2022. Among women of reproductive age, confidence fell from 48% in 2022 to 37% in the current survey.
There were substantial partisan differences, with 62% of Democrats expressing confidence in COVID-19 vaccine safety during pregnancy, compared with only 17% of Republicans. KFF notes that confidence has fallen by 17 percentage points among Democrats and 15 percentage points among Republicans since 2022.
The poll also found that 33% of adults, and 31% of women aged 18–49, said they had heard about the claim that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage. Among adults overall, this included 43% of Republicans, 34% of independents, and 22% of Democrats.
KFF noted that research has consistently found COVID-19 vaccines safe during pregnancy. Nevertheless, most respondents expressed some uncertainty about the miscarriage claim, saying it was either probably true or probably false. Only 8% of participants said it was definitely false, while 9% said it was definitely true. In contrast, 37% said it was probably true, and 44% said it was probably false.
Among women of reproductive age, 40% and 42% said it was probably true and probably false, respectively. KFF characterizes this large group of uncertain respondents as part of a “malleable middle,” reflecting uncertainty rather than firmly held beliefs.
Vaccine misinformation and policy uncertainty challenge public confidence
The survey found that confidence in childhood MMR and polio vaccines remains high across political groups. Conversely, views of COVID-19 vaccine safety are sharply divided along partisan lines. The poll also identified substantial uncertainty about proposed changes to childhood vaccination recommendations, alongside persistent misconceptions about vaccine spacing and COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.
The findings reflect self-reported attitudes rather than actual vaccination behavior. Although the survey was nationally representative, the larger margins of sampling error for smaller subgroups mean that some differences should be interpreted cautiously.