New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, on an overseas trip to the United Kingdom, said there needs to be a balance in considering parental concerns over vaccinations as the U.S. deals with a recent spread of measles.
Asked if he would urge Americans to vaccinate their children, Mr. Christie said that “we vaccinate ours, and so, you know that’s the best expression I can give you of my opinion.”
“You know it’s much more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official,” he said, according to NBC News. “And that’s what we do. 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.”
Asked if he thinks some vaccines are dangerous, Mr. Christie said he didn’t say that.
“I said different disease types can be more lethal so that the concern would be measuring whatever the perceived danger is by vaccine and we’ve had plenty of that over a period of time versus what the risk to public health is and you have to have that balance and that’s exactly what I mean by what I said,” he said.
His office later sent out a clarification on the remarks, saying that Mr. Christie believes vaccines are an important public health protection and with a disease like measles there is “no question” kids should be vaccinated. At the same time, his office said, different states have different requirements on vaccinations, which is why he called for a balance in which ones should be mandated by the government.
In an interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, President Obama advised parents to get their kids vaccinated, saying that measles is “preventable” and that the science is “pretty indisputable.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.