Christie Calls for ‘Balance,’ ‘Measure of Choice’ for Parents on Vaccinations
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Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images(TRENTON, N.J.) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s office on Monday sent out a release attempting to downplay comments he made regarding vaccinations during remarks about the measles outbreak that has spread to 14 states.
According to the New York Times, Christie said that parents “need to have some measure of choice” on whether or not to vaccinate their children. While the governor acknowledged that he and his wife had vaccinated their four children, he did say that “not every vaccine is created equal, and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others.”
Christie’s office sent out the release on Monday to ensure clarity, that “the Governor believes vaccines are an important health protection and with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated.”
“At the same time,” the release said, “different states require different degrees of vaccination, which is why [Christie] was calling for balance in which ones government should mandate.”
Christie said definitively that he does not believe some vaccines are dangerous, rather that “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.”
These aren’t Christie’s first controversial comments on a public health issue. Last October, he broke with the White House and federal guidelines when he quarantined a nurse returning from West Africa where she had treated Ebola patients. The nurse did not show any symptoms of the disease and the quarantine caused an outcry on both sides of the issue.
Christie is scheduled to meet with United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday before attending a dinner with members of Cameron’s cabinet.
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