Annenberg Science Knowledge News Today

Factors capture differences between conservatives’ and liberals’ perceptions of science

Women of childbearing age are more doubtful about the safety of getting the flu and COVID-19 vaccines while pregnant, a new study shows.

Although the public had been alerted that this winter could be a potentially bad flu season, barely half of Americans said in January that they had received a flu shot, a vaccination level unchanged in a representative national panel from the comparable period last year, according to a new Annenberg Science Knowledge (ASK) survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

The public's knowledge about monkeypox has increased rapidly in recent weeks though misconceptions and uncertainty persist, and over a quarter of Americans say they are not likely to get vaccinated against monkeypox if they're exposed to it, according to a new Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) survey.

Despite knowing the risks of COVID-19, breakthrough infections, and long COVID, US adults are less and less likely to take precautions, a survey finds.

As Covid-19 cases surge across the United States dominated by a highly transmissible subvariant and worry about Covid persists, some in the public have begun to voice concern about the new health threat of monkeypox, according to a new Annenberg Public Policy Center national survey.

While the vast majority of U.S. adults who are fully vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19 would be likely to recommend vaccinating a 5- to 11-year-old, over a third of fully vaccinated adults who have not had a booster shot have reservations about Covid-19 vaccination for a child that age, according to survey data analysis by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

APPC survey: Public trust in top U.S. health agencies and Fauci holds steady With more than two-thirds of American adults vaccinated with at least one dose of an authorized Covid-19 vaccine, the top U.S. health agencies retain the trust of the vast majority of the American public, as does Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of U.S. efforts to combat the virus, according to a new survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. The survey revealed growing p...

Three in four people say COVID-19 vaccines effective and safer than getting virus A national probability Annenberg Science Knowledge survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that about 15% of people are uncertain about the vaccine, but persuadable. More than 259 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in the United States from Dec. 14, 2020, through May 10, 2021. As of May 5, 2021, well over half a million deaths—576,238 people—have been reporte...

Conspiracies beliefs about COVID-19 increased among users of conservative and social media Belief in conspiracies about the COVID-19 pandemic increased through the early months of the U.S. outbreak among people who reported being heavy users of conservative and social media, a study by Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) researchers has found. Prior APPC research found that people who regularly used conservative or social media during the early months of the pandemic were more likely to repor...