Americans’ positive views of childhood vaccines have remained steady since the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey says.
The poll, published by the Pew Research Center, found that 88 percent of Americans say that the benefits of childhood vaccines for the protection of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) “outweigh the risks.” This percentage is equivalent to the share who responded the same way in 2016 and 2019, before COVID-19.
Overall, the survey found that more Americans are skeptical about COVID-19 vaccines than the MMR vaccine. About 72 percent of respondents said that the preventative health benefits of the MMR vaccine were “high,” compared to just 45 percent responding the same way for COVID-19 vaccines.
In contrast, 29 percent of respondents said that the preventable health benefits associated with the COVID-19 vaccine were “low.” Only 9 percent of respondents said the same thing of the MMR vaccine, according to the survey.
Similar results occurred when respondents were asked about the risk of side effects for each vaccine. About 64 percent of respondents said that the risk of side effects were low for the MMR vaccine, while 41 percent said the same thing for COVID-19 vaccine.
The survey included 10,701 U.S. adults, was conducted between March 13 to 19 and has a 95 percent level of confidence.
