During a tour of a company that manufactures vaccines in the United Kingdom on Monday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie appeared to suggest that parents, not the government, should be given a choice to vaccinate their children against diseases like measles.
“We vaccinated ours. That’s the best expression I can give you of my opinion,” Christie said, when asked whether Americans should vaccinate their children. “It’s much more important, I think, what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. … But I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well, so that’s the balance that the government has to decide.”
Christie’s remarks seemed to counter those made by President Obama during an interview with NBC News, in which he said, unequivocally, that parents should vaccinate their children.
“The science is pretty indisputable. We’ve looked at this again and again,” Obama said. “There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren’t reasons to not.”
The debate over vaccinations has reached a fever pitch in light of a recent measles outbreak, stoked by many parents’ unwillingness to vaccinate their children against the treatable disease, although there is thin rationale for avoiding vaccines.
Politically, the issue cuts to the core of the disagreement over the role government should play in people’s lives and the appropriate extent of federal government regulations.
In a statement walking back Christie’s remarks, his spokesman suggested Christie’s call for “balance” referred to that between the federal government and state regulations on vaccinations.
“To be clear: The governor believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated,” said Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Christie. “At the same time, different states require different degrees of vaccination, which is why he was calling for balance in which ones government should mandate.”
But Democrats ran with Christie’s statement by circulating a letter Christie wrote in 2009 in which he expressed support for anti-vaccine parents of autistic children.
“I have met with families affected by autism from across the state and have been struck by their incredible grace and courage,” Christie wrote. “Many of these families have expressed their concern over New Jersey’s highest-in-the nation vaccine mandates. I stand with them now, and will stand with them as their governor in their fight for greater parental involvement in vaccination decisions that affect their children.”
In a statement, Democratic National Committee spokesman Mo Elleithee accused Christie of “bowing to junk science.”
“He ought to take his own advice – sit down and shut up, before people actually get hurt,” Elleithee said.
