Most Americans believe that the preventive health benefits of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is very high, and more than half say the risk of side effects is low, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
The survey was conducted Oct. 1-13, 2019, among 3,627 U.S. adults.
Six survey findings:
1. Eighty-eight percent of respondents said that the benefits of the MMR vaccine outweigh the risks. This figure did not changed from 2016, when Pew Research last asked this question in a survey.
2. Of the 1,811 U.S. adults who were asked their views on the preventive health benefits and risk of side effects of the MMR vaccine, 56 percent said the benefits are "very high," and 70 percent said the risks are "low" or "very low."
3. Those with higher levels of education and income were more likely to say the preventive health benefits of the MMR vaccine are high. Seventy-four percent of people with a postgraduate degree and 75 percent from upper-income families said they thought the vaccine has very high preventive health benefits, compared to 44 percent of people with high school or lower levels of education and 46 percent of respondents from lower-income families.
4. Eighty-two percent of respondents said that MMR vaccination should be required for public school attendance.
5. However, around 23 percent of parents with children under 18 years said that MMR vaccination should be a parental decision.
6. Black and Hispanic Americans are less likely than their white counterparts to say that benefits of the MMR vaccine outweigh the risks, with 92 percent of white adults reporting they believe the benefits outweigh the risks, versus 74 percent of black and 78 percent of Hispanic adults.