Vaccine Policy

After winning the 2024 election, Donald Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In his history as an anti-vaccine advocate, Kennedy regularly criticized the agencies he would now be leading. His criticisms were often based on claims and conspiracy theories that misrepresented scientific findings.

In the opening months of the second Trump administration, Kennedy began reshaping federal vaccine policy. He rolled back CDC recommendations for COVID-19 shots, replaced the government’s main vaccine advisory panel, and cut funding for community vaccination programs. His actions set a tone that encouraged some states to take their own actions—either against his policies or, in the case of Florida, going beyond them.

How does all this fit with public opinion? Let’s look.

Vaccine Availability

Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents agree the government should make vaccines more available to those who want them:

Kennedy has been moving in the opposite direction. In May, he removed the CDC’s recommendation that healthy children and healthy pregnant people get Covid shots.

In June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing them with new appointees, several of whom are vaccine skeptics. In August, he fired Susan Monarez, head of the CDC, because she would not pledge to support forthcoming recommendations from the new panel. The panel later struck the recommendation that adults 65 and older get vaccinated for Covid. Instead, the panel said those 65+ should consult with their doctors whether to get the shot—leaving it available but not recommended by default.

In July, several medical groups, led by the American Academy of Pediatrics, sued the HHS over its May removal of Covid recommendations, claiming the move is “contrary to the wealth of data and peer-reviewed studies that demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Covid vaccines for children and pregnant women.”

Several states also responded, saying they would issue their own vaccine guidance, potentially diverging from federal guidance.

Vaccine Requirements for Schoolchildren

Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents agree that vaccines should be required for schoolchildren:

This poll shows Republicans at only 55%. Other polls that explore the reasons for people’s views clarify that those against the requirement are not necessarily against vaccines. Rather, they see the issue as a question of whether the government or parents should be making the choice.

In his HHS role, Kennedy has not questioned whether vaccinations should be required for schoolchildren. In April, he called out support for the measles vaccine, which is a core childhood vaccine. However, Kennedy’s HHS cut $2 billion for community vaccination programs targeted to children from low-income families.

Meanwhile, in September, Florida announced it would be the first state to end vaccine requirements for schoolchildren. Kennedy did not comment, but in reaction to the news, President Trump cautioned, “You have some vaccines that are so incredible, and I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don't have to be vaccinated. It’s a very tough position … it’s a tough stance.”

Vaccine Research Funding

Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are against cuts to research into infectious diseases, which often includes vaccine research:

In August, Kennedy announced HHS would terminate 22 mRNA vaccine development projects worth approximately $500 million. mRNA technology’s first large-scale use was for Covid vaccines. Kennedy said the technology “poses more risk than benefits” for respiratory viruses like Covid—a view not consistent with the scientific consensus. (Kennedy said the $500 million would be redirected to other forms of non-mRNA vaccine research.)

In October, Kennedy fired CDC official Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who in an interview with CBS News, said she had been “silenced” after objecting to the cancellation of long-running influenza vaccine trials.

The Counter-Majority Trend

Although much of Kennedy’s agenda goes against public opinion overall, trends have been coming his way—albeit still with a minority of Americans. For example, Gallup has this comparison: In 2001, 94% of Americans said it was either “very important” or “extremely important” for parents to have their children vaccinated; in 2024, that percentage had fallen to 69%. Gallup reports that most of the drop occurred from 2020 (when Covid emerged) to the present, mostly with Republicans.

So, Trump’s instinct to bring on the vaccine skeptic Kennedy—a Democrat in a Republican administration—was in line with the outlook for a growing segment of the Republican party.

Looking Forward

Will Kennedy’s actions fuel the growing vaccine-questioning minority, or will his push against majority opinion spark a backlash that strengthens support for vaccines? His tenure is testing how far federal policy can diverge from long-standing medical consensus and public opinion. The outcome will shape not only vaccine policy but also the broader relationship between science, politics, and public trust.