1 in 6 Parents Delaying or Skipping at Least 1 Vaccine for Children: Survey

Younger parents were more likely to report skipping or delaying vaccines, the survey found.

A vaccine at a clinic for students, in this file photo. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

About one in six parents are delaying or skipping one or more vaccines recommended for their children, according to a new survey.

Of parents surveyed by KFF, 16 percent said they have pushed back or not gotten at least one of the vaccines for their children. The vaccines include measles and polio shots; they do not include influenza and COVID-19 vaccines.

Parents who delayed or skipped at least one vaccine for their children were more likely to be Republican. Twenty-two percent of GOP parents said they did so, compared with 17 percent of independent parents and 8 percent of parents who identified as Democrats, KFF said on Sept. 15.

Broken down by age, younger parents were more likely to report skipping or delaying vaccines. Nineteen percent of parents younger than 35 reported doing so, compared with 16 percent of parents aged 35 to 49 and 12 percent of parents aged 50 and older.

Nearly half of parents who currently homeschool a child said they skipped or delayed one or more vaccines for their children, in addition to about three-quarters of parents who described themselves as anti-vaccine. One in 10 respondents said they skipped or delayed at least two vaccines, and 6 percent of parents said they skipped or delayed every vaccine.

The recommended vaccine schedule of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most of which is required for school attendance by states across the country, contains 12 vaccines for virtually all children, in addition to other shots for certain groups of minors.

The top reason listed by parents who skipped or delayed vaccines for their children was concern about side effects. Other top reasons included not trusting that vaccines are safe, not believing that all recommended vaccines are necessary, and not wanting their children to receive multiple vaccines at once.

Skipped or delayed vaccines included shots against polio, hepatitis B, and measles.

About one-third of parents said they do not think that vaccines for children are tested adequately, and 26 percent of respondents said the CDC recommends too many childhood vaccines.

Florida recently moved to end some childhood vaccine mandates and plans to eliminate all of them.

Still, 90 percent of respondents in the new survey said it was very important or somewhat important for children to be vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella, and a similar percentage were in support of the polio shot. Four in five parents said they support public schools requiring vaccines against measles and polio for attendance, with some exceptions.

KFF, in partnership with The Washington Post, surveyed 2,716 parents online from July 18 to Aug. 4. The margin of error was plus/minus 2 percentage points.

A separate survey, conducted recently by CivicScience, found increases among Americans reporting that they are not at all comfortable, or only somewhat comfortable, with vaccinations. Most respondents to that survey also said they plan on getting an influenza vaccine this year, while a plurality said they do not plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC’s vaccine advisory panel is meeting on Sept. 18 and Sept. 19 to consider making changes to recommendations for vaccines against COVID-19, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella.