Pew Research Center Nearly two-thirds have high confidence in vaccine effectiveness, and about half trust their safety testing and schedule; Republican support for school vaccine requirements continues to slide. A majority of Americans (63%) are highly confident that childhood vaccines are effective at preventing serious illness. And majorities say these vaccines protect both vaccinated children (69%) and the wider community (65%), though larger shares of Democrats than Republicans hold these views.
By comparison, smaller shares of U.S. adults – and Republicans in particular – are extremely or very confident that childhood vaccines have gotten enough safety testing (53%) or that the vaccine schedule is safe (51%).
Overwhelming majorities of both Democrats (92%) and Republicans (78%) say the benefits of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine outweigh the risks. Still, among Republicans, this share is down from 91% in 2016.
Republican support for MMR vaccine school requirements also continues to slip, from 79% in 2019 to 52% today.
Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say medical scientists should have a major role in childhood vaccine policy decisions. In turn, Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say parents of young children should have a major role.