Trump Pollster Quietly Tells Republicans: Voters Still Trust Childhood Vaccines, Doubt COVID Shots

U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign pollster reportedly briefed Republican congressional staff on Wednesday about survey results showing strong bipartisan support for routine childhood vaccines, even among Trump supporters.

The Fabrizio Ward poll found deep partisan divisions over COVID-19 shots, but broad backing for measles and hepatitis B immunizations, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the meeting. 

Just 22% of surveyed Trump voters said the COVID-19 vaccine was important, compared with 77% for measles and 69% for hepatitis B. By contrast, at least 90% of Kamala Harris supporters backed all three vaccines. 

The national poll of 1,000 voters, dated Aug. 26, did not specify its sponsor.

The briefing came one day before Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday on Trump's healthcare agenda. 

Chairman Mike Crapo said the hearing will review the department's“Make America Healthy Again” initiatives to date and future plans.

Kennedy faces mounting criticism over his overhaul of federal vaccine policy, including the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez and dismissal of the entire CDC vaccine advisory panel. 

More than 20 medical groups and over 1,000 current and former HHS employees have called on him to resign, while California, Oregon and Washington have formed a new health alliance to issue independent vaccine recommendations. 

He is now apparently weighing seven new members for the reconstituted CDC vaccine panel, which is expected to vote on hepatitis B and other shots later this month.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) was described as 'extremely bearish' with 'low' message volume, while sentiment for the iShares Global Healthcare ETF (IXJ) was 'neutral' with 'normal' message volume.

So far this year, XLV is up 0.4% while IXJ has gained 2.8%.

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