The CDC's New Messaging May Be Damaging Trust in Vaccines, Study Says

Before Nov. 19, 2025, the CDC’s website was unequivocal on the topic: “Studies have shown that there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder,” it read. After Nov. 19, the guidance essentially reversed. “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism,” it now says. “Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”That claim, reflecting the longstanding vaccine-skeptical views of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), is false. But new research published in the journal Science suggests that it’s affecting what Americans believe about vaccines. “What concerns me is not only the immediate effect on vaccine attitudes, but also the broader downstream effects: reduced trust in the CDC and greater endorsement of science-denial practices may shape how people will engage, or not engage, with information about vaccines more generally,” says Robert Böhm, professor of psychology at the University of Vienna, who led the new study.To conduct their work, Böhm and his colleagues asked nearly 3,000 U.S. adults a range of questions about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. They also asked who should