82 Percent Of Americans Support Mandatory Vaccines

Americans support mandatory vaccinations and overall see vaccines as more beneficial than harmful by wide margins, according to a new report from Pew Research Center.

Despite the relative prominence of anti-vaccine arguments, it seems most of the population agrees with expert opinion on the importance and safety of vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and may other official organizations of medical experts all recommend the routine vaccinations for healthy individuals.

In Pew's report, a substantial 82 percent of Americans said they supported mandatory measles, mumps and rubella vaccines tied to school attendance for healthy children. Only 17 percent oppose these requirements.

A full 88 percent of respondents said that the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks, while only 10 percent said the reverse.

Anti-vaccination views get a significant amount of attention, especially after the wake of a now-debunked study linking inoculations to autism, but they appear to have had a relatively small impact on the actual child vaccination trends:

Some worry that these trends may soon face headwinds due to President Trump's expressed skepticism about vaccines. In 2012, he tweeted, "Massive combined inoculations to small children is the cause for big increase in autism."

The White House has also announced a panel to examine vaccine safety — despite extensive work done by the CDC and other groups done on this topic — to be led by vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Kennedy has also suggested, without evidence, that autism is linked to vaccines.

Experts warn that tying beliefs about vaccines to partisan divisions could have devastating effects on public health.

Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Luis R. Agostini