Written by James Reinl, Dailymail.Com Social Affairs Correspondent
15:37 03 November 2023, 18:26 03 November 2023 Updated
Americans are increasingly skeptical about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and politicians on the left and right are echoing those concerns in their campaigns to win the White House.
A poll this week found that while most voters trust vaccinations against Covid-19, MMR and other bugs, millions more have changed their minds in recent months. It showed that they no longer considered them safe.
The study found widespread online misinformation linking the shot to death and autism, and that ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug typically used in animals, has been linked to Covid-19. The move comes amid warnings from health authorities that it can treat the disease.
Despite these warnings and the public health implications, two politicians, independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Ron, have incorporated vaccine skepticism into their 2024 campaign platforms. DeSantis, Republican Governor of Florida.
Kathleen Hall Jamison, director of the Annenberg Center for Public Policy, who released a poll on vaccines this week, said there were ominous “warning signs” about rising rates of skepticism.
“More people are becoming distrustful of the vaccines that protect their health and save lives,” Jamieson said.
His poll of more than 1,500 adults found that the share of Americans who believe coronavirus vaccines are unsafe jumped from 18% in August last year to 24% last month.
Meanwhile, the proportion of people linking autism in children to increased vaccine use rose from 10% in April 2021 to 16% last month.
Similarly, the percentage of adults who support the use of ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19 rose from 10% in September 2021 to 26% last month.
The use of ivermectin against coronavirus is against the advice of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Another Rasmussen Report poll of 1,110 American adults found even more surprising results.
Almost a quarter (24%) of respondents said they personally knew someone who had died from side effects of a COVID-19 vaccination.
There have been cases of heart disease and blood clots caused by coronavirus shots, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says serious side effects are “rare.”
Studies show the shooting prevented millions of deaths and hospitalizations in the United States.
More than 1.1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and the death rate is much higher among unvaccinated people.
The rollout of the latest Covid-19 shots has been slow since they became available in mid-September.
Rasmussen said millions of Americans have said they want to join class-action lawsuits against Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna and other manufacturers over the shots’ side effects.
Forty-two percent of respondents said they would probably participate in such a legal effort, including 24% who said they were very likely to participate.
There are also signs that growing skepticism about vaccines is influencing next year’s White House race.
Kennedy, who recently withdrew from running as an independent candidate for the Democratic nomination, has long campaigned against outlandish theories such as vaccines.
Earlier this year, he said on a podcast that “there is no safe and effective vaccine” and told Fox News that the shots could cause autism.
DeSantis, who is popular for reopening schools and businesses early from Florida’s pandemic-era lockdown, appears to be embracing vaccine hesitancy to win votes.
Last month, the DeSantis administration urged Floridians under 65 not to receive the latest round of coronavirus vaccinations, against recommendations from federal agencies.
He appeared this week at a “healthcare freedom” town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, an early voting state for next year’s primary election, and downplayed the shot’s effectiveness.
The governor said the coronavirus vaccine was introduced without proper research and federal officials were wrong about its risks and benefits.
“We know that the federal government covered this up in a number of ways, and we need a reckoning,” DeSantis told the audience.
DeSantis had more than 30% support among Republican voters as the party’s nominee in early 2023, but now he has just 13% support, according to average polling.
This is significantly lower than the front-runner, former President Donald Trump.
