A new poll from The Washington Post and the health policy nonprofit KFF finds that roughly one in six parents in the United States have delayed or skipped routine vaccinations for their children, excluding those for COVID-19 and the flu.
The data reveals notable demographic patterns: white parents, Republicans, highly religious individuals, and those who homeschool their children are more likely to forgo vaccines. Among homeschooling parents, 46% reported skipping some vaccines, while 36% of very religious parents said the same. Republican parents were nearly twice as likely as Democrats to delay or skip vaccinations, and white parents were significantly more likely than Asian American parents to do so.
The poll comes amid a gradual decline in childhood vaccination rates since the pandemic. During the 2024–25 school year, just over 92% of kindergarteners received the MMR, polio, and DTaP vaccines—down from 95% in 2019–20, the threshold public health officials consider necessary to prevent disease outbreaks.
Parents who are opting out of vaccines cited safety concerns as a primary factor: 67% pointed to fears about side effects, and 53% expressed a general distrust of vaccine safety. As federal vaccine policy evolves under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic, experts warn that these trends could pose growing risks to public health.
Vaccine hesitancy is often shaped by a mix of personal beliefs, emotional responses, and misinformation. Because many diseases can’t be seen with our eyes their risks feel abstract, while disproven myths continue to influence public perception.
Click through this gallery and find out what are the underlying reasons that people refuse to vaccinate their kids.