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Vaccine skepticism now the norm for many Americans
News brief
Today at 4:02 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Public Health
Anti-science
A new poll today in Politico suggests that vaccine skepticism is now just as prevalent as vaccine confidence for Americans, with one-third of respondents reporting they see reducing vaccines as a core principle of the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Overall, 46% of poll respondents said facts on vaccines are still up for debate and it is damaging to enforce their uptake. Thirty-nine percent said science on vaccines is clear and it is damaging to question it. Results were further split daily neatly down political lines, with Trump supporters the most likely to question vaccine safety and argue against vaccine mandates.
Forty-four percent of polled adults said they believe vaccines should be mandatory for children to attend school. In a telling question, 47% of the more than 3,800 adults polled said the return of measles was not worth the risk of having personal freedom to make decisions about vaccines, compared to 39% who said it was worth the risk and preferred personal freedom over vaccine mandates.
Of note, 49% of Republican voters said the return of vaccine-preventable diseases was a price worth paying for the ability to refuse vaccines.
Older Americans remember vaccine-preventable diseases
Age was a major factor in how respondents thought about the personal duty of vaccination as a tool to prevent others from illness.
Two-thirds of adults 65 and older, who are old enough to remember a time before vaccines controlled serious childhood illnesses, said it was their duty to get vaccinated to protect others, Politico said. So did two-thirds of adults who said they voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Two new H9N2 avian flu cases reported on mainland China
News brief
Today at 3:58 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
Today’s Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) recorded two new H9N2 human avian influenza cases with symptom onsets in January and February.
The H9N2 cases include a 3-year-old boy from Guangdong province who got sick on January 20 and a 63-year-old man from Guangxi Zhuang whose symptoms began on February 5. No details were given on where they contracted the virus or their symptoms or recovery timeline.
Per the CHP, there have been 22 H9N2 cases reported in China in the past six months. In 2025, there were 29 H9N2 cases reported from mainland China. In 2024, the country reported 11 total cases.
About 90% of human H9N2 avian flu cases have been reported in China, with detections in Cambodia, Vietnam, and India as well. A recent case in Italy was confirmed in a man who had recently been in Senegal.
ALL BRIEFS
Vaccine skepticism now the norm for many Americans
News brief
Today at 4:02 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Public Health
Anti-science
A new poll today in Politico suggests that vaccine skepticism is now just as prevalent as vaccine confidence for Americans, with one-third of respondents reporting they see reducing vaccines as a core principle of the Make America Healthy Again movement.
Overall, 46% of poll respondents said facts on vaccines are still up for debate and it is damaging to enforce their uptake. Thirty-nine percent said science on vaccines is clear and it is damaging to question it. Results were further split daily neatly down political lines, with Trump supporters the most likely to question vaccine safety and argue against vaccine mandates.
Forty-four percent of polled adults said they believe vaccines should be mandatory for children to attend school. In a telling question, 47% of the more than 3,800 adults polled said the return of measles was not worth the risk of having personal freedom to make decisions about vaccines, compared to 39% who said it was worth the risk and preferred personal freedom over vaccine mandates.
Of note, 49% of Republican voters said the return of vaccine-preventable diseases was a price worth paying for the ability to refuse vaccines.
Older Americans remember vaccine-preventable diseases
Age was a major factor in how respondents thought about the personal duty of vaccination as a tool to prevent others from illness.
Two-thirds of adults 65 and older, who are old enough to remember a time before vaccines controlled serious childhood illnesses, said it was their duty to get vaccinated to protect others, Politico said. So did two-thirds of adults who said they voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
Two new H9N2 avian flu cases reported on mainland China
News brief
Today at 3:58 p.m.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
Today’s Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP) recorded two new H9N2 human avian influenza cases with symptom onsets in January and February.
The H9N2 cases include a 3-year-old boy from Guangdong province who got sick on January 20 and a 63-year-old man from Guangxi Zhuang whose symptoms began on February 5. No details were given on where they contracted the virus or their symptoms or recovery timeline.
Per the CHP, there have been 22 H9N2 cases reported in China in the past six months. In 2025, there were 29 H9N2 cases reported from mainland China. In 2024, the country reported 11 total cases.
About 90% of human H9N2 avian flu cases have been reported in China, with detections in Cambodia, Vietnam, and India as well. A recent case in Italy was confirmed in a man who had recently been in Senegal.
ALL BRIEFS