BRIEF: Vaccine Skepticism and Bird Flu Narratives, Implications for Public Trust

Declining trust in health institutions shapes responses to public health threats.

Public trust in government health institutions has significantly declined over the past few years, with partisan divides driving much of this skepticism. Recent polls show that trust in agencies like the CDC and FDA has fallen, while trust in individual doctors—historically the most trusted health information source—has also decreased.¹ These trends high…