People who follow "new right" media outlets are more than twice as likely to be vaccine-hesitant compared to those who never engage with those outlets, a new Johns Hopkins University study finds.
Researchers surveyed nearly 3,000 adults in 2025, as measles cases hit record highs in the United States, asking participants about their sources for news and health information and how they felt about the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccine. The findings revealed how specific media habits are strongly associated with attitudes toward vaccines.
"Our work reveals a strong association between people's specific media habits and their attitudes towards vaccination," said author Lauren Gardner, director of Johns Hopkins' Center for Systems Science and Engineering and an expert in using data and modeling to better understand disease risk. "Our findings suggest that when everyone is already engaging online, where and how they choose to do so matters."
The study is newly published in the journal Vaccine.
In 2025, more than 2,000 measles cases across 43 states were reported in the United States, the most cases since the highly infectious disease was declared eradicated in 2000. Almost all the cases occurred in unvaccinated people. Measles cases continue to rise this year.
The outbreak follows a steady drop in childhood vaccination rates, including the MMR vaccine, across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic. Coverage among school children hovers at 93%, below the 95% herd immunity threshold needed to predict or limit the spread of measles.
Previous research has demonstrated that adults who rely on less authoritative health information sources for vaccine information were more hesitant about vaccinating their own children. However, less was known about how people's general news habits might tie into their vaccination beliefs.
Gardner's team surveyed 2,970 adults last August. While most Americans—83%—reported that MMR vaccine benefits outweighed risks, roughly one in six respondents reported feeling hesitant about it.
Hesitant adults were significantly younger—with 62% under age 44—and more likely to be parents. They were also more likely to be racial minorities, lower-income individuals and less educated overall. This group expressed more conservative political beliefs: they were more likely to identify with either Republican (39%) or Independent (33%) parties; additionally they identified with Make America Healthy Again movement (MAHA) at higher rates than non-hesitant adults (43% versus 27%).
Most participants—87%—reported following news regularly regardless of hesitancy status; almost everyone went online daily using various sources for information. The greatest difference between groups was what researchers called "selective media engagement" among non-hesitant individuals: these adults avoided right-leaning new media channels and alternative health influencers far more often than hesitant peers.
Reliance on physicians for health advice appeared as a strong protective factor against hesitancy according to survey results; researchers say communicators must consider both where Americans get their information as well as content accuracy when seeking improvements in vaccination rates.
"With public health becoming increasingly polarized, it's critical to understand people's attitudes about vaccines," said co-first author Amelia Jamison of Johns Hopkins University. "This work suggests people's media preferences play an outsized role in influencing those attitudes." PhD student Samee Saiyed is also listed as co-first author.
