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KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
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This issue brief gives an overview of the main systems used by the federal government to track vaccine safety and adverse events following vaccinations. The brief reviews the history of federal vaccine safety systems, describes the key systems and their strengths and limitations, and also discusses how vaccine safety issues have become the subject of more scrutiny under the Trump administration.
Recent changes to the CDC’s website language falsely asserting that a link between vaccines and autism cannot be ruled out may introduce ambiguity that online narratives can exploit.
Nearly two weeks after a CDC advisory panel voted to end the recommendation for newborn hepatitis B vaccination, conversations about vaccination schedules and parental choice remain elevated. Meanwhile, narratives about an FDA memo alleging COVID-19 vaccines caused 10 pediatric deaths have shifted toward claims of a government cover-up.
This brief describes four key federal vaccine advisory committees and discusses policy issues and questions they currently face. The four committees are the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); and the Advisory Commission on Childhood…
KFF’s latest Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust shows that larger shares of the public express uncertainty over common vaccine myths than definitive belief. The latest analysis shows which adults are consistent myth believers, consistent myth deniers, and those who fall in the “mixed middle.”
Two recent federal actions, including a memo about alleged COVID-19 vaccine deaths and settlements creating a “detransition clinic,” show how official actions can present uncertain or uncommon outcomes as representative and lend credibility to narratives that go beyond what evidence supports.
As Florida moves to end its mandates, early release findings from a new KFF-Washington Post survey show that parents overwhelmingly support current laws that require children to be vaccinated against diseases like measles and polio.
In a new “Beyond the Data” column, KFF’s President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman analyzes years of KFF polling on vaccines in light of the current controversies about them. The real problem, he says, is not lack of public confidence in the safety of vaccines — few say they are unsafe — it’s that polarization and misinformation have eroded confidence in what’s true or not, and in scientific institutions people used to rely on for…
Our recent [survey] found very few parents (9%) report skipping or delaying the hepatitis B vaccine for their children...this is similar to a 2023 KFF survey showing that most adults overall stayed up-to-date on the hepatitis B vaccine, with just 10% reporting having skipped or delayed it.
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