Harvard Poll Shows 1 in 5 Adults Do Not Support Routine Childhood Vaccine Requirements
Of those who do not support vaccines, 79% said a major reason for their opposition is that it should be the parents’ choice about whether to vaccinate their child and 40% cite safety concerns.
Approximately 1 in 5 US adults do not support routine childhood vaccine requirements, according to a new poll by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation. However, approximately 79% of parents said childhood vaccination, such as for measles, mumps, and rubella, should be necessary to attend school.1
Of those who do not support vaccines, 79% said a major reason for their opposition is that it should be the parents’ choice about whether to vaccinate their child and 40% cite safety concerns. | Image Credit: natara - stock.adobe.com
“At this point, public opposition to childhood vaccine policies is often more about parental rights than vaccine safety,” Gillian SteelFisher, director of the Harvard Opinion Research Program and principal research scientist at Harvard Chan School, said in a news release.1 “As the country leans on vaccine policies to help address its largest measles outbreak in decades, public health leaders need to be prepared to bring empathy to conversations that go beyond just trying to convince people vaccines are safe.”
As of June 24, 2025, there have been a total of 1227 confirmed measles cases across 37 jurisdictions. So far, there have been 23 outbreaks reported, and 89% of cases are associated with an outbreak. In 2024, there were 285 cases, with 69% being associated with 1 of 16 outbreaks.2
Among the 21% of adults who do not support vaccine requirements, 79% said a major reason for their opposition is that it should be the parents’ choice about whether to vaccinate their child, and only 40% were concerned about vaccine safety. Approximately 66% said they think government agencies that enforce vaccine requirements are influenced by politics and big companies, 64% worried that children will be required to get too many vaccines, and 54% thought vaccine requirements exist to make money for pharmaceutical companies.1
For those who support routine vaccine requirements, 90% cite vaccine effectiveness and 87% cite family responsibilities to keep schools safe. Only 49% cited trust in government agencies approval as a reason for their support. Further, 84% of those who support vaccines said they believe diseases, such as measles, will come back if vaccines are no longer required; 81% said vaccine requirements are important to protect children who cannot get vaccinated; 80% believed they are proven safe because they are well tested; and 78% said they are proven safe because they have been around so long.1
Furthermore, 91% of the public believe that vaccines for childhood preventable diseases are safe for most children. Only 5% and 4% believe they are not very safe or not at all safe, respectively.1
Pharmacists play a key role in promoting vaccine safety, especially for children. They are able to navigate emerging challenges about vaccine recommendations as well as patient communication. Maintaining evidence-based medical guidelines, actively listening to patients, and providing objective information are necessary, according to Kevin Cleveland, PharmD, professor in the pharmacy practice department at Idaho State University.3
"We need to have those conversations with patients when there's very conflicting information out there and really address those from our own perspective because we're just more accessible than most health care providers," Cleveland said in an interview.3 "I think really it's just being accessible and available to patients and also providing that information, like I mentioned before, of listening and then also providing a very objective perspective on what those concerns are."
READ MORE: Immunization Resource Center
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REFERENCES
1. Poll: Amid multi-state measles outbreak, 79% of Americans support routine childhood vaccine requirements. News release. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. June 25, 2025. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/poll-amid-multi-state-measles-outbreak-79-of-americans-support-routine-childhood-vaccine-requirements/
2. CDC. Measles Cases and Outbreaks. Updated June 25, 2025. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html
3. Gallagher A, Cleveland K. Pharmacists Play Key Role in Navigating Vaccine Misinformation and Disinformation. Drug Topics. June 24, 2025. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/pharmacists-play-key-role-in-navigating-vaccine-misinformation-and-disinformation
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