The vast majority of Michigan parents keep their child up to date on vaccinations, a recent state survey finds, but those who are off track are most likely to be behind on COVID-19 and flu shots. And about half those whose kids are behind on vaccines said it’s because they have concerns, primarily around safety and side effects.
“The data really tell us two stories here,” said state immunizations director Ryan Malosh. “The first is that the majority of parents do choose to get their children vaccinated, still.” But there are also “increasing concerns about vaccines,” with many “parents choosing to adopt a different schedule. And the confusing recommendations that we're seeing might be impacting that.”
The survey is a snapshot of evolving attitudes towards vaccines, at what experts say is a particularly vulnerable moment for public health in the state and across the U.S.
Michigan is already seeing a surge in vaccine-preventable illnesses, especially in kids. So far, there’ve been 18 confirmed cases of measles in the state this year, with the U.S. seeing the most measles cases since the disease was declared “eliminated” decades ago.
And pertussis (aka whooping cough) cases in the state are already on track to surpass last year’s 2,081 cases, which were “a dramatic spike from just 110 in 2023,” according to the state’s I Vaccinate campaign. Twenty-seven kids in Michigan have already been hospitalized for pertussis this year alone.
Meanwhile, 10 kids died from influenza during this flu season, the highest the state has seen in recent years.
COVID-19 shot is the most likely to be skipped
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services recently partnered with a marketing firm to “field a survey on parental attitudes about immunizations,” Malosh said at press conference this week.
A state-level sample of some 840 Michigan parents with at least one kid under the age of 6, found 81% of parents said their child was up to date on vaccines and boosters.
Of those who were off track, about half said it wasn’t on purpose. Those who said it was intentional were most likely to say their kid hadn’t receive the COVID-19 shot (54%), with the flu shot (38%), chickenpox (24%), RSV antibody (22%) and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines (19%) being the others most commonly missed.
And the post-pandemic drop in routine childhood immunizations has put the state in a precarious place, falling from about 75% coverage to about 70%, Malosh said.
“That dip has resulted in pockets of the population that are susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases. That really is represented in the number of cases that we're seeing.”
Parents cite fears about vaccine safety, side effects
When asked why they’d delayed or chosen to skip a vaccine, parents expressed concerns about “the potential side-effects and long-term impacts” of vaccines, including fears about “autism, negative long-term health consequences, immediate allergic reactions, and general distrust in vaccine ingredients and pharmaceutical companies,” according to a summary of the open-ended responses parents provided.
Other parents in the survey mentioned logistical issues like scheduling and transportation issues, as well as insurance complications or needing to find a new doctor. And several mentioned “personal beliefs” that made them prefer to space out vaccinations longer than the CDC-recommended schedule.
Those concerns are now being championed at the highest levels of the nation’s health system, with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who has a long history as an anti vaccine activist) facing lawsuits from several leading medical groups over changes he’s made to the nation’s vaccine schedule.
Last month, Kennedy abruptly fired all members of the panel that guides the nation’s vaccine policies, replacing some of them with vaccine skeptics.
“Many, many patients have questions, and they're very concerned that they're not going to be able to get vaccines,” said Dr. Pamela Rockwell, a family physician and chair of the Michigan Advisory Committee on Immunizations. “The majority of my patient population is concerned that either the [COVID] vaccine may not be available, or the insurance won't cover it.”
Parents are also frightened about the surge of measles cases, said Dr. Joshua Meyerson, a pediatrician and the medical director for the Health Department of Northwest Michigan.
“A lot of providers are getting a lot of questions from their families about measles, especially as it relates to the current outbreak, not just across the country, but in our neighboring Grand Traverse County, where parents are concerned about their child's risks of being exposed and getting sick,” he said. “Especially and more so in their infants who are too young to be protected by the vaccine, and in those who have underlying medical conditions that make them particularly vulnerable.”
Who do parents trust?
Most of the parents in the state survey said they get their news from social media, and said healthcare professionals are the most trusted sources for childhood vaccine information.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health, the state health department, and the CDC were the other most trusted sources, with the highest levels of distrust being reported for Governor Gretchen Whitmer (45% trusting her “not at all” or “not much”), RFK Jr. (57% not trusting), religious leaders (60% not trusting), and President Trump (67% not trusting).
About 36% said they’d changed a vaccine decision based on new information, including worries about side effects and general vaccine skepticism, particularly about the COVID-19 vaccine, with several expressing beliefs “that these vaccines are unnecessary, driven by profit rather than health benefits, and possibly harmful.”
Others said conversations with doctors and healthcare professionals, as well as hearing stories and reading studies about unvaccinated people who became seriously ill, helped to change their minds.
