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The State of Public Health in the U.S.: What do Americans Think?

With the COVID pandemic in the rearview mirror and fears of a bird flu pandemic on the horizon, Children’s Health Defense commissioned a poll to gauge voters’ trust in government health agencies and related questions.

The 5 questions we asked pertained to trust in the U.S. public health system, the government’s handling of the COVID pandemic, vaccine mandates, and holding pharmaceutical companies accountable for their products.

The poll was conducted amid a soaring epidemic of chronic childhood disease, with cancer, pediatric obesity, mental health issues, and autism all on the rise. A rapidly growing number of Americans are seeking answers and meaningful change to end the plague of poor health.

About the poll

John Zogby Strategies, an independent market research firm, conducted an online national poll of 1,005 registered likely voters in the 2024 general election, with an overall margin of sampling error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. Subgroups have higher error margins. Secure invitations were sent to a random sample of our nationwide panel of ~15 million adults using email, text-to-web, and API.

Survey participants were screened for age, voter registration, and voting likelihood. Slight weights were applied to ensure the sample represented the population’s age, education, gender, political party, race, and region.

Read the executive analysis here.

Review the full polling data here.

Question #1

Do Americans trust government health agencies like the CDC and FDA?

Doctor touching screen with FDA and CDC signs

More than a third (36%) of Americans said they have little or no trust in the FDA and CDC, vs. 59% of who have complete or at least some trust. Of the 59% who lean toward trust, 21% said they had “complete trust” and 38% have “some trust.” Nearly a fourth (23%) selected “not too much trust” and another 13% said they have “no trust at all.”

Child with adult

Does age matter?

18 to 29-year-olds (25.9%) and people 65 and older (25.7%) are more likely to trust the CDC and FDA completely. Only 14.8% of 30-34-year-olds selected “complete trust” in the FDA and CDC.

Parents with child in the middle

What do parents think?

Among parents of a child 17 or under, 54.5% selected “some” or “complete” trust compared with 60.6% of people who don’t a child living at home.

Graduation Cap

Is education a factor?

Among those with a 4-year college degree, 68% said they completely trust or have some trust in government health agencies vs. 52.9% without a 4-year degree.

People in rotating circle

What about race?

Whites are the most evenly split, with 20% saying they have complete trust vs. 15.6% who have no trust at all. Asians are most trusting — 24.4% said they have complete trust. Only 16.8% of Blacks selected “complete trust.”

Question #2

Should the government be able to mandate vaccines?

Medical professional holding up small sign

A slight majority (51%) sided with personal health choices, while 40% favored mandates.

Child with adult

Does age matter?

Across all ages, less than half of respondents favored mandates. Those most opposed (55.3%) were 45 to 64-year-olds.

Parents with child in the middle

What do parents think?

Slightly more than half (51.4%) of parents with children at home chose personal choice over mandates.

Graduation Cap

Is education a factor?

About half (50.5%) of respondents with a 4-year college degree preferred mandates over personal choice compared with 39.2% of people without a college degree.

People in rotating circle

What about race?

Race is a factor in this debate, with whites (54.3%) and Hispanics (49.4%) favoring choice and Blacks (41.8%) preferring mandates.

Question #3

What about experimental vaccines that haven’t been subjected to standard safety testing — should the government be able to mandate those?

Scientist writing on clip-board

An overwhelming 72% of respondents said no to government-mandated experimental vaccines — like the COVID vaccines, which the FDA authorized for emergency use to expedite deployment during the pandemic.

Child with adult

Does age matter?

Significantly more than half of voters, regardless of age, opposed mandates for experimental vaccines. The over-65 crowd opposed them the most — 77.6%.

Parents with child in the middle

What do parents think?

69% of parents of a child under 17 said no to mandates for experimental shots vs. 73.3% of respondents without a child living at home.

Graduation Cap

Is education a factor?

Education didn’t significantly affect people’s views on mandating experimental vaccines — 70.7% of those with a 4-year degree opposed the mandates vs. 72.5% without a 4-year degree.

People in rotating circle

What about race?

Race had only a slight effect: 75.5% of whites opposed mandates of experimental vaccines, vs. 63.9% of Hispanics, 62.2% of Asians and 55.4% of Blacks.

Question #4

Should anyone harmed by a vaccine be able to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer, as is the case for almost all other products and services?

Hammer and gavel with vaccines on desk

More than half (57%) of respondents said they should be able to sue a vaccine maker if injured by a vaccine. This is not possible under existing law, which protects vaccine manufacturers from legal liability.

Child with adult

Does age matter?

Across all age groups, more than half of respondents said vaccine makers should be held legally liable for injuries caused by their products. Responses ranged from a high of 60.8% (45- 64-year-olds) to a low of 51.3% (65+).

Parents with child in the middle

What do parents think?

Having a child living at home isn’t a factor — 57.1% of those with a child under 17 said vaccine makers should be liable for their products, vs. 57% who don’t have a child.

Graduation Cap

Is education a factor?

Education also didn’t affect responses — 56% of people who have a 4-year college degree favored legal liability for vaccine makers vs. 57.7% of respondents without a college degree.

People in rotating circle

What about race?

Blacks (41.3%) were among the least in favor of holding vaccine makers legally liable for vaccine injuries, while Asians (61.7%) were most in favor.

Question #5

Looking back on it, how would you rate the government’s overall handling of Covid-19?

Capital Building

Overall, only 12.9% of respondents said the government handled the pandemic well. Another 39.2% said it did the best it could. On the flip side, 21.2% of respondents thought the government mishandled the pandemic and 19.6% gave it a failing grade.

Child with adult

Does age matter?

The youngest respondents (18 to 29-year-olds) gave the government the highest marks — 23.4% believe the government did well and 33.5% said it did the best it could. 30- to 44-year-olds had the lowest opinion of the government’s performance — 47.5% said the government mishandled or failed.

Parents with child in the middle

What do parents think?

53.7% of parents with a child under age 17 living at home believed the government responded well or did the best it could vs. 64.3% of those without a child.

Graduation Cap

Is education a factor?

The opinions of those with a 4-year college degree vs. those without were evenly split — 40.8% gave the government high marks vs. 40.8% who selected “mishandled” or “failed.”

People in rotating circle

What about race?

Asians gave the government higher marks than whites, Blacks or Hispanics — 62% said the government did well or the best it could. Whites had the lowest opinion, with 44.7% believing the government mishandled or failed in its response.