Nearly 80% of voters — including nearly two-thirds of Republicans — worry that the federal government is making vaccine policy decisions based on political considerations, not the underlying science. And three in five voters are concerned that Americans who want to get vaccinated won’t be able to because of recent policy changes.
These findings, from a new poll conducted by bipartisan firms Echelon Insights and Impact Research, alarm me.
As the U.S. Surgeon General during President Trump’s first administration, I fear that recent policy reversals could catalyze a preventable public health crisis. On top of that, the GOP’s vaccine missteps could spark a cataclysmic, entirely preventable, midterm backlash.
In recent months, federal health leadership has unilaterally changed long-standing childhood vaccine recommendations against the advice of the country’s top medical organizations. The lack of transparency and supporting evidence for these changes has sown uncertainty for physicians, insurance providers, and families. And the consequences are already visible.
The United States is experiencing a dangerous backslide in the fight against measles. More than 40% of the country’s cases this century have come since the start of 2025, highlighted by major outbreaks in Texas and currently South Carolina.
Yet in the face of these outbreaks, top officials have offered wildly contradictory advice that has sowed further confusion among ordinary Americans.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, recently implored the public to “take the vaccine, please.” Yet the handpicked chair of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has downplayed the importance of the vaccine for measles, as well as for polio and other highly contagious, deadly diseases.
Preventable deaths over the last year to measles, whooping cough, and the flu are not the result of failed science, lapses in safety, or newly dangerous pathogens. They’re the result of declining vaccination rates, caused in large part by inconsistent messaging that impedes opportunities to make America healthy.
So, what should Washington do to allay concerns?
By a margin of more than two to one, Americans want federal health leaders to focus more on our food supply and nutrition than vaccines. That holds true among supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement (81%), Trump voters (80%), and moms (80%).
And when it comes to vaccination specifically, voters consistently place the most trust in doctors and family pediatricians (92% have confidence in them to provide accurate guidance) and in the American Academy of Pediatrics (78%). Elevating their expertise and fortifying their decades-long involvement in the process of independent evaluation and guidance is critical to restore public trust in federal policymaking.
The increasing hostility to vaccines at the highest levels of government isn’t just out of step with the science — it’s out of step with the electorate. Nearly nine in 10 voters say vaccines are essential for public health, and 93% agree that Americans should be able to protect themselves and their family with vaccines that are available, accessible, and affordable.
In addition, 92% believe policymakers should ensure all Americans can continue to access approved vaccines recommended by their doctors. That includes 85% of Trump voters who are favorable to the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement.
Leaders who ignore this consensus endanger Americans’ health — and their own political futures.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
The post Trump’s former Surgeon General: voters widely support vaccine access and want Washington to focus elsewhere appeared first on Fortune.
