An 83% majority of the public says vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) are safe for healthy children, while about one-in-ten (9%) think such vaccines are not safe. An additional 7% volunteer that they don’t know. CONT. Pew Read more »
Debunking vaccine junk science won’t change people’s minds. Here’s what will.
… I called Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth who specializes in the sometimes magical thinking people have in politics and health care. … In his political research, he has demonstrated that giving people corrective information can deepen their misperceptions — findings that dishearten any debunker. Here’s our interview […] Read more »
Fear of measles? Most Americans want children vaccinated
The Director of the Centers for Disease Control warned of the possibility of a large outbreak of measles on television Sunday, and urged vaccinations. About half the American public in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll are concerned about a possible epidemic, and even more would require vaccinations against measles, mumps and […] Read more »
Americans And Scientists Agree More On Vaccines Than On Other Hot Button Issues
You might have gotten the idea from Rand Paul and Chris Christie that most Republicans don’t believe parents should be required to vaccinate their children. In fact, the opposite is true (as statements by Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee and Rick Perry suggest). The majority of people — of […] Read more »
The new vaccine politics
… In 1954, Gallup found that more Americans knew about the polio vaccine trials than could give the full name of President and former allied commander Dwight Eisenhower. Our family eagerly rushed to the doctor’s office to take both versions of the vaccine. Only 53 percent then thought it was […] Read more »
Measles Proves Delicate Issue to G.O.P. Field
The politics of medicine, morality and free will have collided in an emotional debate over vaccines and the government’s place in requiring them, posing a challenge for Republicans who find themselves in the familiar but uncomfortable position of reconciling modern science with the skepticism of their core conservative voters. … […] Read more »