Have RFK and MAHA really changed American views on vaccines?

A Politico poll headline claiming more Americans doubt vaccine safety than trust it misrepresents public sentiment by relying on a flawed, multi-part survey question. While recent Reuters-Ipsos and Pew Research Center polls show vaccine confidence remains high at approximately 84%, the Politico survey bundled distinct issues—such as the clarity of science, the ethics of questioning research, and the enforcement of mandates—into a single binary choice. Dr. David Higgins, a pediatrician and public health professor, notes that respondents might support vaccines while opposing harsh enforcement, making their answers difficult to interpret. Furthermore, the survey failed to distinguish between attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and long-standing immunizations like the MMR jab. Internal data from the same poll actually suggested 63% of respondents trust vaccine safety, leading Politico to retract the original headline and acknowledge it as an editing error.