Seven in 10 US adults support requiring schoolchildren to be vaccinated against infectious diseases such as measles, and over half also say states should ban students unvaccinated students from attending public or private schools, although support for this prohibition has been eroding since before the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey reveals.
Results of the survey, completed by 538 adults earlier this month for the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, were compared with those from a survey of 2,344 participants in spring 2019, roughly a year before the pandemic began.
"We find a significant drop in support for states prohibiting unvaccinated children (for non-medical reasons) from attending public or private schools," the authors wrote. "Further, the new survey finds increased support for state policies allowing parents to opt out of vaccinating their children for medical, religious, and personal or philosophical reasons."
Differences by political affiliation
All US states and Washington, DC, require certain vaccinations for students to attend school, a mandate that 52% of respondents said they support for both public and private schools to protect children who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons, down from 71% in 2019, across all political groups.
The APPC cited the National Council of State Legislatures in saying that all states have exemptions from school vaccination for medical reasons, while 30 states and Washington, DC, allow exemptions for religious reasons, and 13 states allow them for personal or philosophical reasons.
The growing support for parental opt-outs is universal across political party for medical exemptions, while religious and personal exemptions are seen to lesser degrees among self-described Democrats or political independents.
A total of 73% of respondents said they back mandatory childhood vaccinations, compared with 77% in 2019. An analysis showed partisan differences, with 86% of Democrats agreeing with such a mandate, while only 62% of Republicans and 72% of independents concurred.
From 2019 to 2025, support for states allowing medical opt-outs for childhood vaccinations rose from 36% to 63%. At the same time, backing of medical opt-outs grew from 38% to 69% among Republicans, 38% to 66% among independents, and 31% to 53% among Democrats. The proportion of those who opposed these opt-outs declined from 47% to 20% of Republicans, 51% to 32% of Democrats, and 41% to 17% of independents.
Support for states allowing religious opt-outs for childhood vaccinations nearly doubled from 2019 to 2025, from 20% to 39%. Republicans' favor for religious opt-outs grew from 24% to 52%, while independent support rose from 22% to 42% and Democrat support didn't change. Over the same period, opposition to these opt-outs dropped from 62% to 29% among Republicans and from 58% to 34% among independents, while the change among Democrats was not statistiscally significant.
From 2019 to 2025, support for states offering personal or philosophical opt-outs for childhood vaccines spiked to 35% from 17%. Republican support grew from 16% to 44%, while Democrat support climbed from 12% to 22%, and independent backing rose from 22% to 38%. During the same period, Republican opposition dropped to 41% from 71%, and independent opposition fell to 42% from 61%; Democrat opposition was unchanged.
Growing universal support for medical exemptions
"The growing support for parental opt-outs is universal across political party for medical exemptions, while religious and personal exemptions are seen to lesser degrees among self-described Democrats or political independents," the APPC wrote.
Also, the proportion of those who "strongly support" school-related vaccination mandates has dropped from 47% of adults in 2019 to 24% in the new survey. But 66% say they are closer to the view that healthy children should be required to be vaccinated because of the potential risks. Another 21% say they are closer to the belief that parents should decide whether to vaccinate their children who attend public schools, even if their decision creates health risks for other children and adults.
Yet more than 8 in 10 respondents (84%) said they would back their state using public funds to provide free or discounted measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines, up from 81% in 2019.