There’s certainly some of that, but I don’t think it’s as widespread as you think. I think the base problem is actually a breakdown in social trust.
Not everyone can be a doctor, or economist, or scientist. So we rely on experts to tell us what’s up. The trust in the very idea of expertise has been eroded, in part due to legitimate fuckups by top officials, in part due to a rise in “Facebook experts” and conspiracy theories, and in part due to a concerted effort by conservatives to destroy that trust for their own gain.
Basically, these aren’t people thinking “I don’t care if these kids die.” These are people thinking, “The medical establishment is full of liars and thieves, so these so called vaccines don’t even work.”