Most Americans Unaware of CDC's Pregnancy Vaccine Recommendations

Most Americans are unaware or unsure which vaccines the CDC recommends during pregnancy, according to a nationally representative survey of US adults released July 22, 2026, by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.¹

The survey, fielded July 1 to 5, 2026, among 1031 US adults, found that even the best-known recommendation—the seasonal flu vaccine—was correctly identified by less than half of respondents.¹ The findings raise questions for pharmacists, who administer a substantial share of vaccinations and are often the last clinical touchpoint before a pregnant patient decides whether to vaccinate.

Awareness of Recommended Vaccines Is Low

According to CDC guidance, 4 vaccines are routinely recommended during pregnancy: the seasonal influenza vaccine; the Tdap vaccine (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis), preferably between 27 and 36 weeks' gestation; the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, given during weeks 32 to 36 in RSV season; and the hepatitis B vaccine for those not already vaccinated. Among all adults surveyed, awareness of these recommendations ranged from 23% for the hepatitis B vaccine to 48% for the seasonal flu vaccine.¹

For the COVID-19 vaccine, more than half of respondents did not know whether the CDC recommends it. The agency's current guidance frames COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy as a matter of individual decision-making rather than a routine recommendation, a position the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has said does not go far enough, as ACOG "continues to recommend that all pregnant and lactating individuals receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine."¹

Women aged 18 to 49 years were significantly more knowledgeable than other adults on most items, correctly identifying the hepatitis B vaccine recommendation 30% of the time and the flu vaccine recommendation 60% of the time, compared with 21% and 43%, respectively, among other adults. Awareness of the RSV vaccine recommendation did not differ significantly between the 2 groups.²

Uncertainty Dominates the Findings

Across every vaccine the CDC recommends during pregnancy, plus the COVID-19 vaccine, "not sure" was the most common response. Between 45% and 66% of all adults said they were not sure whether the CDC recommends the flu, Tdap, RSV, hepatitis B, or COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy. Among women of childbearing age, that uncertainty ranged from 32% to 58%.¹

"Our findings suggest that many Americans do not know which vaccines are recommended during pregnancy," Ken Winneg, PhD, APPC's managing director of survey research, said in the news release.¹ "The encouraging news is that relatively few people think that the CDC recommends vaccines that are not advised during pregnancy."

Relatively small shares of respondents incorrectly believed the CDC recommends vaccines that are not advised during pregnancy: 21% for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, 17% for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, and 17% for the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine.¹

Women of childbearing age were no more likely than other adults to hold these incorrect beliefs. For HPV, for example, 20% of women aged 18 to 49 years incorrectly said the vaccine is recommended during pregnancy, compared with 16% of other adults, a difference the release characterized as not statistically significant.¹

What This Means for Pharmacists

"Many Americans routinely get their immunizations from their primary health care providers or at local pharmacies," Patrick E. Jamieson, director of APPC's Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute, said.¹ "It is critical that those professionals pay special attention to vaccine recommendations for recipients who are pregnant."

That counseling responsibility comes at a moment of unusual flux in federal vaccine policy. CDC published an updated ACIP charter this year shifting governance authority toward the CDC director and removing fixed meeting-schedule requirements, a change that the Infectious Diseases Society of America and several cosigning organizations warned could "lead to confusion and delays that threaten public access to lifesaving vaccines and evidence-based, accurate information."³

Separately, ACOG withdrew as an ACIP liaison organization in February 2026 and released its own 2026 Maternal Immunization Schedule in June, endorsed by 13 organizations, including the American Pharmacists Association, covering the same 4 vaccine categories tracked in the APPC survey plus COVID-19.⁴ With federal guidance and professional-society recommendations not always aligned, pharmacists may need to reconcile more than one source of guidance when counseling pregnant patients at the counter.

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted for APPC by SSRS, an independent research company, using a nationally representative probability sample from SSRS's Opinion Panel.⁵ Data collection ran from July 1 to July 5, 2026, via web (n = 1001) and telephone (n = 30), among 1031 U.S. adults, with a margin of sampling error of ±3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level and a design effect of 1.23. The survey completion rate was 53.5%, with a weighted response rate of 56.2%.⁵

REFERENCES

1. Rozansky M. Most Americans are unsure which vaccines the CDC recommends during pregnancy. News release. Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. July 22, 2026. Accessed July 24, 2026. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137148

2. Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Omnibus SSRS - CDC Vaccine Recommendations during Pregnancy Items: Topline. July 9, 2026. Accessed July 24, 2026. https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/omvprg-do04-topline7_17.pdf

3. Gallagher A. New ACIP charter may potentially delay vaccine recommendations. Drug Topics. July 2, 2026. Accessed July 24, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/new-acip-charter-may-potentially-delay-vaccine-recommendations

4. Gallagher A. ACOG releases maternal immunization schedule, differing from previous CDC schedule. Drug Topics. June 12, 2026. Accessed July 24, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/acog-releases-maternal-immunization-schedule-differing-from-previous-cdc-schedule

5. SSRS. SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus Methodology Report. July 7, 2026. Accessed July 24, 2026. https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/Z4913_APPC-Vaccine-Recommendations_Omnibus_Methodology-Report_July_2026.pdf