When a vaccine for polio was first introduced, humans had been grappling with the devastating effects of the disease for eternity. So, on the cusp of the cure, a February 1954 Gallup/National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis poll asked Americans, “If polio is finally licked, what would you say are the things which brought about the defeat of this disease?”
A majority, 63%, pointed to “research, science, experimentation, and doctors,” while 29% said people’s financial contributions made the difference. Just 13% credited vaccines or medicine.
But that didn’t mean the vaccine wasn’t popular. One year later, in April 1955, 84% of Americans told Gallup that they planned to have their child vaccinated with the new polio vaccine
Vaccines were broadly seen as the future of medicine.
In fact, 30 years later and a 1985 Opinion Research poll showed any concern about the safety of vaccines barely registering. Only 3% of Americans listed them as a top three health risk.
Public support for vaccines has often been strongest when outbreaks occur. In February 1991, a German measles outbreak spread among religious communities that refused vaccination, raising the question: Should the government step in?
A Lifetime Television/Princeton Survey Research Associates poll at that time found that 61% of Americans said yes, while 26% believed the government should stay out of it. When asked if vaccinations should be mandated for all children, support was even stronger, with 81% saying yes, while only 14% opposed.
A decade later Gallup found that 73% of Americans had heard “a great deal” or a “fair amount” about the advantages of childhood vaccinations. Almost everyone, 98%, agreed that vaccinating children was “extremely, very, or somewhat important.”
But vaccine hesitancy has always been an undercurrent. In 2002, the Harvard School of Public Health & International Communication Research asked about the smallpox vaccine’s effectiveness, and Americans were evenly split. 46% believed it would provide serious protection, while 48% were doubtful.
Then came COVID-19.
In August 2020, 46% of Americans told the Associated Press/AP-NORC they planned to get the COVID-19 vaccine. A quarter of respondents refused outright, and 29% weren’t sure.
By December 2020, when ABC News/Ipsos asked whether states should make the COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for people returning to work, 39% supported the idea, while 61% were against it.
Concerns about the vaccine were widespread. In January 2021, 37% of Americans told KFF/SRSS that fear of side effects was their main hesitation. Another 11% cited the speed of development and lack of adequate testing.
By April 2021, Fox News/Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research found that 28% of registered voters were still worried about how quickly the vaccine had been developed, and 16% didn’t believe it would work.
Debates over vaccine requirements extended to “vaccine passports.” In April 2021, Quinnipiac found Americans split, 49% thought requiring proof of vaccination was a good idea, while 45% disagreed.
And now, with COVID still circulating but attention having waned, vaccine skepticism has reached new levels of acceptance.
A new measles outbreak is spreading in Texas, infecting 200-300 people so far. The United States has withdrawn from the World Health Organization and fired hundreds of “disease detectors” from the CDC. And the new head of Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy Jr. has a long history of making dubious claims about vaccine risks.
It’s been a long time since Jonas Salk and his polio vaccine were heralded as ringing in the age of modern medicine.
This post was written by Marist Poll Media Team member Hunter Petro.