Views dim of his ability to rein in outbreaks
In addition, most adults dismiss the Trump administration’s
claim that childhood vaccines cause autism, and while half of poll respondents
still hold the same unfavorable opinion of Kennedy they did in August 2025,
significantly more say they view him very unfavorably.
Americans’ uncertainty of where Kennedy stands on the MMR
vaccine might in large part be traced back to Kennedy himself. He has rarely provided
unflinching support for the highly effective vaccine.
More than 1,900 adults responded to the poll, conducted from
August 4 to 17. Of all participants, 31% correctly stated that Kennedy
recommends the MMR vaccine, up from 23% in August 2025. But most indicated that
Kennedy either doesn’t recommend the vaccine (29%) or are unclear about his
position (40%).
“Measles is highly contagious,” APPC research analyst Laura
Gibson, PhD, said in the news release. “As we’ve seen this year, communities
that don’t maintain 95% vaccination rates are at risk for outbreaks.”
US ‘paying the price’ for vaccine skepticism
As of late last week, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) had confirmed 3,659
measles cases so far this year, compared with 2,289 for all of 2025. Nearly all
of infected people (95%) were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination
status.
Pennsylvania is
still the nation’s hot spot, with 903 cases, 114 of them from the past week,
including four deaths. While the CDC initially didn’t recognize any of the
deaths, it now lists two.
On August
2, after years of unproven claims about the MMR vaccine and an
assertion that childhood vaccines cause autism, Kennedy denied responsibility
for the measles outbreaks. “I’ve never questioned the efficacy of the MMR
vaccine,” he said on CNN. “A measles vaccine is effective. It stops measles in
about 97% of the cases.”
In the news release, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, PhD, APPC
director emerita, said, “As measles cases rise and the U.S. is poised to lose
its measles elimination status, this country is paying the price for skepticism
about vaccination against measles that RFK Jr. played a central role in
promoting.”
42% rate Kennedy very unfavorably
Over half of respondents (55%) agreed more with the American
Academy of Pediatrics’ statement that studies have repeatedly found no link
between childhood vaccines and autism, while only 18% said they believe the
CDC’s current assertion that studies haven’t ruled out a link between the two,
and 27% said they weren’t sure.
In total, 68% of participants said that it’s false to state
that childhood vaccines such as MMR cause autism, whereas 13% say that
statement is true, and 19% aren’t certain—percentages statistically unchanged
since 2022. In June 2021, however, significantly more (74%) thought the
statement was false.
Just over half (52%) believe that fully vaccinated children
are about as likely to show signs of autism as those not fully vaccinated, and
9% say fully vaccinated children are more likely, down from 12% in February
2026. Another 12% say they’re less likely to show signs of autism, and 28%
aren’t sure.
“This small decrease in endorsing a link between vaccination
and autism is good news in our survey data,” Ken Winneg, PhD, APPC managing
director of survey research, said. “However, when looking at the same people
over time, there is no relationship between accurate change in knowledge of RFK
Jr.’s recommendations and decreases in endorsing this misbelief.”
A total of 23% of respondents said that their opinion of
Kennedy is favorable, unchanged from August 2025. Half report an unfavorable
view of him, with 42% saying they see him very unfavorably and 8% somewhat
unfavorably. While the public’s overall unfavorable rating of Kennedy has not
changed since August 2025, significantly more participants said their opinion
is very unfavorable in 2026 than in 2025 (42% vs 37%).
The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage
points at the 95% confidence level.
