Reluctance to covid-19 vaccines exists within a greater trend. Often referred to as the “anti-vaxx movement”, the past several decades have marked a decrease in public trust in developed countries. Much of this is based on fundamental misconceptions about biology, but the threat to public health is real, marked by the 2019 Measles epidemic in the Pacific Northwest. These views flourish on social media and the modern internet. One study found that 50% of tweets about vaccination contain anti-vaccine beliefs, and another study found that 43 out of the top 100 Google suggested websites using keywords “vaccination” and “immunization” were anti-vaccination.

Although vaccination has on the whole been roughly equal between Republicans and Democrats, it is possible that partisan perceptions of science have begun to impact adherence to vaccine recommendations as well.