Earlier this month, Gallup released a troubling new poll. Among its findings:
- Only 40% of Americans say vaccinating their children is essential, down from 58% in 2019.
- Just 51% of Americans believe the government should require children to be vaccinated, down from 62% in 2019.
- 1 in 5 adults in the United States believe vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they are designed to prevent.
The pollsters reported “the declining belief in the importance of vaccines is essentially confined to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.” This aligns with other research that’s found vaccine denialism occurs across the political spectrum but tends to skew conservative.
Religiosity, too, is a contributing factor in vaccine rejection. An analysis released this week found, for example, “Catholics have a significantly lower COVID-19 vaccine intention than atheists, and this relationship was mediated by lower belief in science among Catholics.”
Whether it originates in religious opposition, conspiracy theory, or pseudoscience, vaccine denialism and the “infodemic” that promulgates it both present a major threat to public health at a time when epidemiologists warn we are woefully unprepared for the next pandemic. Just this week:
- COVID variants continue to spike nationwide with the CDC reporting “very high” wastewater viral activity.
- The World Health Organization declared a public-health emergency in response to a surge of mpox infections in Central Africa.
- Last month, Colorado reported six cases of avian flu detected in samples taken from poultry workers. As of this week, the H5N1 strain has been confirmed in 192 herds of cattle in 13 states.
- After the death of a New Hampshire man and the hospitalization of Dr. Anthony Fauci were reported this week, experts are warning about an increased risk of mosquito-borne viruses.
- Oregon recently experienced its biggest measles outbreak in half a decade, and this week the CDC confirmed 227 cases in the United States, a 271% increase from last year.
The CDC has also found the vaccination rate among kindergarteners has dropped to 93%, below the 95% required for herd immunity from measles. While all U.S. states require immunizations for students, only five do not allow exemptions for non-medical reasons.
These trends are especially alarming now that anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy has ended his presidential bid and endorsed the former president in exchange for a spot on the transition team and, reportedly, a role in a second Trump administration. Top Kennedy supporters have even suggested he would do an “incredible job” as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
With a budget of over $1.5 trillion and oversight of 13 federal agencies, one former HHS Secretary warned the role comes with “a shocking amount of power by the stroke of a pen.” If his long and well-documented history of espousing conspiratorial beliefs and spreading misinformation is not sufficient evidence that Kennedy is unqualified to make public health decisions, surely his involvement in the preventable deaths of dozens of Samoan children is? Or perhaps his more recent promise to not prioritize the research, manufacture, or distribution of vaccines in the face of another pandemic.
Kennedy has suggested he would appoint public health “dissidents,” like discredited vaccine scientist Robert Malone and Dr. Pierre Kory, who was just recently stripped of his certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine for promoting false cures for COVID. At an anti-vaccine conference last year, Kennedy vowed to stop the National Institutes of Health from studying infectious disease: “I’m going to say to NIH scientists, God bless you all. Thank you for your public service. We’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.”
Kennedy’s views regarding science, medicine, and public health are not just incorrect; they’re insidious. As another writer put it: “The safety and effectiveness of vaccines in protecting humans against specific diseases is one of the most experimentally-verified concepts of all time. Believing that the moon landings were faked may make you out of touch with reality, but this belief does not really harm anyone. In contrast, avoiding vaccines ultimately leads to disease and death. Furthermore, avoiding vaccines not only harms you, it harms your entire community…”
We’ve already seen it happen. It’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated individuals needlessly died of COVID-19. If Kennedy or anti-vaccination zealots like him are given any position of power or influence within the next administration, the anti-science misinformation they sow could infect the mainstream, undermining efforts to save lives. American Atheists is taking this threat seriously. We oppose non-medical exemptions for vaccinations, and we will continue advocating for evidence-based public policies. You can support our work by making a generous donation today.
Thanks for reading,
Melina Cohen
Communications Director
American Atheists is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization that relies on the support of members like you. Contributions are tax-deductible. Our Federal Tax ID Number is 74-2466507 and our Combined Federal Campaign number is 52217.
American Atheists
225 Cristiani Street
Cranford, NJ 07016
United States