Public has lost confidence in Bobby Jr.'s CDC vaccine advice

Most people trust medical professionals who have opposed Kennedy

Stephanie Soucheray, MA

A new KFF poll taken in the days after President Donald Trump linked acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism—and said the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine should be separated into three monovalent (single-strain) shots—shows public trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now at its lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The poll also showed low support for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who also made the unsupported acetaminophen (Tylenol) link to autism.

Only 18% of the more than 1,300 adults polled said they have "a great deal" of trust in the CDC to provide reliable vaccine information, while 32% said they have "a fair amount" of trust in the agency—meaning 50% expressed at least some level of trust. In September 2023, 63% of those polled said they had a great deal or fair amount of trust in the CDC, while in July 2025 it was 57%.

However, 69% of parents polled said they trust the American Academy of Pediatrics, and 64% of all adults polled said they trust the American Medical Association. Both of those groups have been removed from federal vaccine working groups this year.

The public does trust the professional associations who have stepped forward.

"It's encouraging, if far from ideal, that as trust in our nation's scientific agencies crumbles, the public does trust the professional associations who have stepped forward," KFF President and CEO Drew Altman, PhD, said in a KFF press release.

Support for RFK Jr and MAHA low

The poll also shows low support for both Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his MAHA, or "Make America Health Again" movement. Of those polled, 62% disapprove of how Kennedy handles vaccine policy, while only 37% approve. Only 41% "strongly" or "somewhat" approve of how he is handling his job, while 59% disapprove of his job performance.

Forty-three percent of those polled say they support MAHA. Support varies widely by political affiliation, with 74% of Republicans favoring the movement, compared with only 22% of Democrats.

The poll reflected conflicting opinions on school vaccine mandates. Seventy percent of parents polled said they oppose removing public school vaccine requirements in their state, and 56% of parents said that getting children vaccinated is part of parents' responsibility to protect the health of others. Forty-four percent said childhood vaccination was an individual choice. 

Individual choice was a partisan issue, with 62% of Republican parents saying childhood vaccination was a personal choice, compared with 26% of Democrats. 

The poll was conducted September 23 through 29, 2025, online and by telephone among a nationally representative sample of 1,334 adults in English and in Spanish. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full sample.