In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio. Trump has long spread antivaccine misinformation. A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.
A new KFF-Washington Post partnership survey of parents explores their experiences with and views about vaccines for their children, including a look into how they make decisions related to vaccines and where they are uncertain or confused about their safety....While most parents say they keep their children up to date on recommended childhood vaccines, about one in six (16%) say that they have delayed or skipped at least one vaccine for their children (other than those for flu and COVID-19). Those most likely to report delaying or skipping vaccines include Republican parents (22%), especially those who identify with President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement (25%), parents under age 35 (19%), and those who homeschool their child (46%)....
Most favor school vaccine requirements. A large majority (81%) of parents say that public schools should require students to get the measles and polio vaccines, with exceptions for medical and religious reasons. Among all parents, 8% say that they had requested an exemption to vaccine requirements so a child could attend school or daycare.
Many are uncertain about false claims. When asked about several false claims about vaccines and measles, relatively few parents believe the untrue statements, but larger shares are uncertain what to believe. One example: While relatively few (9%) parents believe the false claim that the MMR vaccine can cause autism in children, nearly half (48%) say they don’t know enough to say.
Views of parents with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder are somewhat more likely than other parents to believe the false claim that vaccines cause autism (16% vs. 9%).
