On Feb. 10, 2026, an Annenberg survey finds that a sizable majority of Americans think the three vaccines that combat these potentially deadly illnesses are safe to take, although perceptions of the safety of all three vaccines showed a statistically significant drop over the past three years.

Flu levels are rising across the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with visits to emergency departments increasing for children over five. In 2025, measles cases hit their highest level in the United States since 1991, with 2,144 confirmed cases, and the outbreak in South Carolina continues to grow, with 920 cases, according to state health officials. Covid-19 cases are also elevated in parts of the country, according to the CDC.

A nationally representative panel survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania finds that the U.S. public regards the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), flu, and Covid-19 vaccines as safe, but finds a small but statistically significant erosion in support. The survey was conducted Nov. 17-Dec. 1, 2025, among 1,637 U.S. adults, and has a margin of error (MOE) of ± 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

The survey finds that 83% of U.S. adults see the MMR vaccine as safe, 80% see the flu vaccine as safe, and 65% see the Covid-19 vaccine as safe. “Although a strong majority of Americans view the measles (MMR) vaccine as safe relative to other vaccines,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, “the fact that the number holding that view is below the 95% threshold required to achieve community immunity is worrisome.”

The findings come as federal health officials have taken a variety of seemingly contradictory positions on vaccines – some that could undermine public trust, and others in support of vaccination. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Feb. 8 about the South Carolina measles outbreak, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said, “Take the vaccine, please. We have a solution for a problem. Not all illnesses are equally dangerous, and not all people equally susceptible to those illnesses. But measles is one you should get your vaccine.”

Yet in July 2023, over a year and a half before being named to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, longtime vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a podcast interviewer, “There’s no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.”

“While most people continue to regard the flu and MMR vaccines as safe, it is concerning that we are seeing a decline in perceptions of safety over time,” said APPC research analyst Laura A. Gibson. “It is unclear whether changes in CDC recommendations during 2025 are impacting perceptions or whether the decline is a continuation of the ones we observed from 2022 to 2024.”