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Here’s how many Americans are actually anti-vaxxers

By
February 9, 2015 at 2:31 p.m. EST
Miami Children's Hospital pediatrician Dr. Amanda Porro, M.D administers a measles vaccination to Sophie Barquin,4, as her mother Gabrielle Barquin holds her during a visit to the Miami Children's Hospital on January 28, 2015 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Polling has suggested as many as three in 10 Americans think that vaccines should not generally be mandatory. And while that's a key political question, it doesn't really get at the heart of the matter: just how many Americans are so-called "anti-vaxxers," i.e. think vaccines are actually harmful.

The answer, at least when it comes to the measles vaccine, is 9 percent, according to a new poll.