Public trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding vaccine information has fallen to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a fresh KFF Poll on Health Information and Trust published February 6, 2026. Just 47% of Americans now say they trust the agency “a fair amount” to provide reliable vaccine information, a decline of more than 10 percentage points since the beginning of the second Trump administration.
The decline in confidence is particularly pronounced among Democrats, with 55% now expressing trust in the CDC for vaccine information, down from 64% in September 2025. Even as confidence among Republicans remains low, at approximately 40%, it has remained relatively stable in recent months, though significantly lower than the 85% who trusted the CDC in March 2020, according to KFF President and CEO Drew Altman.
The poll was conducted January 13-20, 2026, among a nationally representative sample of 1,426 U.S. Adults, and comes in the weeks following the Trump administration’s decision to reduce the number of childhood vaccines recommended for routine use. More than half of those surveyed (51%) have heard at least something about the changes to the recommended childhood vaccine schedule, and among this group, 54% believe the changes will have a negative impact on children’s health, compared to 26% who believe they will have a positive impact.
Partisan divisions are stark. A majority of Democrats and independents who are aware of the changes anticipate negative consequences for children’s health, while Republicans and supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement largely expect improvements. Specifically, 83% of Democrats aware of the changes believe they will negatively impact children, representing 63% of all Democrats. Conversely, 47% of Republicans aware of the changes anticipate a positive impact, or 34% of all Republicans.
Despite the overall decline in trust, confidence remains relatively high in the safety of the MMR and polio vaccines, which continue to be universally recommended. At least three in four Democrats, independents, Republicans, parents, and MAHA supporters express confidence in the safety of these vaccines. However, confidence is lower, and more politically divided, regarding vaccines that were removed from the routine schedule – hepatitis B, influenza, and COVID-19.
The partisan gap is widest regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, with 79% of Democrats confident in its safety, compared to just 28% of Republicans. Similar disparities exist for the flu (82% of Democrats vs. 52% of Republicans) and hepatitis B vaccines (85% of Democrats vs. 61% of Republicans).
KFF has launched an interactive dashboard to track polling data on health information and trust, including attitudes toward vaccines and the sources people rely on for health-related information. The dashboard, which includes data from more than a dozen previous polls, will be updated regularly.
