Story Highlights 84% in U.S. say vaccinating children is important, down from 94% in 2001

86% say vaccines are not more dangerous than the diseases they prevent

45% of Americans say vaccines do not cause autism in children

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Widespread public support for childhood vaccines creates a wall preventing contagious diseases like measles and polio from spreading in the U.S., but a breach in that wall appeared in 2015 and it has not been repaired. A recent Gallup survey finds 84% of Americans saying it is extremely or very important that parents vaccinate their children. That matches Gallup's prior reading in 2015 but is down from 94% in 2001.

Americans Continue to Be Less Likely to Say It Is Important That Parents Vaccinate Their Children Than They Were in 2001 How important is it that parents get their children vaccinated -- extremely important, very important, somewhat important, not very important or not at all important? % Extremely/Very important 2001 2015 2019 % % % All Americans 94 84 84 Gender Male 91 81 82 Female 96 88 85 Age 18-29 94 72 83 30-49 92 87 80 50-64 94 86 85 65+ 96 90 91 Education Postgrad 92 92 90 College grad only 94 79 89 Some college 93 86 77 HS grad or less 93 82 84 Political affiliation Republican 93 82 79 Independent 91 83 82 Democrat 97 88 92 Parental status Americans with children under 18 92 85 77 Americans with no children under 18 94 90 87 Gallup

The latest data come from a Gallup survey conducted Dec. 2-15, 2019.

The decline in Americans' belief in the importance of vaccinating children between 2001 and 2015 occurred among almost all subgroups of the U.S. public. Since then, attitudes have been fairly flat by gender, age, education and party ID.

The only group that has maintained its 2001 level of support for vaccines is highly educated Americans, those with postgraduate degrees. Ninety percent of this group says vaccination is important, essentially unchanged from the 92% in 2015 and 2001. Perceptions of the importance of vaccination declined by at least five percentage points among all other education subgroups.

Broad majorities of Americans also report that they are aware of the advantages and disadvantages of vaccines. Nearly nine in 10 (89%) say they have heard "a great deal" or "a fair amount" about the advantages of vaccinations, up from 83% in 2015 and 73% in 2001. Meanwhile, 79% say they have heard a great deal or a fair amount about the possible disadvantages of vaccines. This is up modestly from 73% in 2015, though it reflects a substantial increase from 39% in 2001.

Vast Majority of Americans See Vaccines as Not More Dangerous Than Disease

While many opponents of vaccinations argue that vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent, the vast majority of Americans, 86%, continue to disagree. This is unchanged from the 87% who felt that vaccines were less dangerous in 2015 and only modestly lower than the 90% in 2001. Currently, 11% of U.S. adults think vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent.

Most Americans Continue to See Vaccines as Not More Dangerous Than the Diseases They Prevent Do you think vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they are designed to prevent, or not? % No, not more dangerous Yes, more dangerous No, not more dangerous % % All Americans 11 86 Gender Male 12 86 Female 11 87 Age 18-29 10 88 30-49 14 84 50-64 13 85 65+ 7 92 Education Postgrad 6 94 College grad only 4 95 Some college 15 82 HS grad or less 14 83 Political affiliation Republican 13 85 Independent 14 84 Democrat 7 90 Parental status Americans with children under 18 16 81 Americans with no children under 18 9 89 Gallup, Dec. 2-15, 2019

The opinion that vaccines are safer than the diseases that they prevent stayed the same or declined modestly among most subgroups in the U.S. between 2001 and 2015. However, the percentage of Republicans confident in their benefit has fallen slightly, from 91% to 85%. At the same time, Democrats' confidence in the value of vaccines is essentially unchanged.

Although the vast majority of Americans see vaccines as less dangerous than the diseases they prevent, fewer, 62%, say the government should require all parents to have their children vaccinated. This is down from the 81% who said the government should require vaccination in a 1991 Princeton Survey Research Poll.

Substantial Uncertainty on Vaccines and Autism

Perhaps the most well-publicized and debunked claim of danger posed by vaccines is that they cause autism. Currently, 10% of U.S. adults believe vaccines cause autism in children, marking a modest increase from 6% in 2015. Nearly half, 45% do not think vaccines cause autism, up modestly from the 41% who said the same almost five years ago. And 46%, down from 52%, say they are unsure.

Uncertainty Among Americans on Vaccines and Autism From what you have read or heard, do you personally think certain vaccines do -- or do not -- cause autism in children, or are you unsure? Yes, do cause autism No, do not Unsure % % % All Americans 10 45 46 Age 18-29 11 55 34 30-49 13 44 43 50-64 8 37 55 65+ 5 46 49 Education Postgrad 5 73 22 College grad only 6 61 32 Some college 11 42 47 HS grad or less 12 28 60 Political affiliation Republican 10 37 53 Independent 12 43 44 Democrat 5 55 40 Parental status Americans with children under 18 15 42 43 Americans with no children under 18 7 46 46 Gallup, Dec. 2-15, 2019

The more advanced an American's formal education, the more likely they are to say vaccines do not cause autism. The figure is 73% among those with postgraduate education, falling to 61% among those with a college degree only, 42% of those with some college and 28% of those with no college experience. Importantly, lesser-educated Americans are much more likely to have no opinion than to say they believe vaccines do cause autism. The percentage making the causal connection tops out at 12% among Americans with no college education, versus 5% of postgraduates.

There are also substantial partisan differences, with 55% of Democrats saying vaccines do not cause autism, compared with 37% of Republicans.

Bottom Line

The science is clear: Vaccines are safe, and having children vaccinated is both important and confers vast benefits for them. Generally, large majorities of Americans agree with scientists. However, there is enough uncertainty among the public concerning a potential link between autism and vaccines that compliance with pediatric vaccine recommendations could drop and threaten what's known as "herd immunity." Herd immunity is where a sufficiently large percentage of the population, typically in excess of 93%, is vaccinated, ensuring that even those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are protected from these diseases.

Pro-vaccine public awareness campaigns appear to be working to the extent that more Americans -- now a majority for the first time -- report having heard a lot about the medical advantages of vaccines for children. However, more have also heard about the disadvantages. While they are not as pervasive and are being exposed as untrue, these counterarguments are still getting through, perhaps explaining why public support for vaccines remains lower than at the start of this century.

View complete question responses and trends.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.