CAMBRIDGE, England — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie injected himself into the emotional debate over child vaccinations during his overseas trip here Monday, causing an uproar among medical experts over an issue that has repeatedly tripped up U.S. politicians in recent years.
Christie, a likely 2016 presidential candidate who toured a vaccine laboratory here, called for “some measure of choice” on whether shots guarding against measles and other diseases should be required for children. His office quickly clarified the remarks, insisting in a statement that the Republican governor believes vaccines are “an important public health protection.”
The quick turn-around was a sign of the sensitivity surrounding the vaccination debate — which has flared repeatedly in recent presidential campaigns — as well as a sign of the intense scrutiny already facing the broad field of likely Republican contenders for the White House.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), an ophthalmologist who is also readying a 2016 campaign, said Monday that he believes few vaccines should be mandated.
“I think there are times when there can be some rules,” he told talk-show host Laura Ingraham, citing medical benefits of the shots. “But for the most part it ought to be voluntary.”
The CDC is urging people to get vaccinated for measles amid an outbreak that began at Disneyland and has now spread to other states, including Utah, Washington, Oregon and Colorado.
As for his own children, he said, “I didn’t like them getting 10 vaccines at once, so I actually delayed my kids’ vaccines and had them staggered over time.”
Scientists have blamed a small but influential anti-vaccine movement for helping spark a new epidemic of measles, which was once virtually extinct. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that more than 100 cases of the disease were diagnosed in January.
Christie’s initial comments came after a laboratory tour at MedImmune, a company that makes vaccines in Cambridge. Christie is on a three-day tour of Britain designed to promote trade with New Jersey businesses and to round out his foreign policy résumé ahead of a likely 2016 run for the White House.
During an impromptu news conference, Christie was asked to weigh in on the debate in the United States over the measles outbreak. On Sunday, President Obama told NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, “You should get your kids vaccinated.”
“I understand that there are families that, in some cases, are concerned about the effect of vaccinations,” Obama said. “The science is, you know, pretty indisputable. We’ve looked at this again and again. There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren’t reasons to not.”
Christie, however, said Monday that “there has to be a balance and it depends on what the vaccine is, what the disease type is, and all the rest.” He added, “Not every vaccine is created equal, and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others.”
He went on to say that his own children are vaccinated and that he believes vaccinations are “an important part of being sure we protect their health and the public health.”
With the latest measles outbreak spreading fast, you may be surprised by the state with the best child vaccination rate in the country.
“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,” he said.
That remarks drew immediate rebuke from public-health experts and from some political strategists, who wondered whether Christie might have been attempting to appeal to Republicans suspicious of government mandates.
“There’s only one of two options, said Rick Wilson, a Republican operative from Florida. “Either he’s so tone deaf that he doesn’t understand why saying this is bad for him, or this is a considered political strategy. And that would be even more troubling.”
Christie aides said he was not questioning science, and they acknowledged that his initial comments could be misconstrued.
“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 a statement issued from Christie’s office in Trenton, N.J., after the uproar. “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.”
In substance, Christie’s overseas comments did not differ dramatically from remarks he has made previously in New Jersey, which faces higher than average childhood autism rates and an active community of parents who have questioned vaccinations.
In 2009, Christie met with parents concerned about autism rates and listened to some who expressed fears that the disease might be linked to vaccinations, said Louise Kuo Habakus, who has written a book called “Vaccine Epidemic” and is active with the group New Jersey Coalition for Vaccine Choice. She said not everyone at the meeting held that view.
Habakus said she gave Christie a copy of her book just before a 2011 town-hall meeting. During the public event that followed, Christie chose to call on her to ask a question, which she said she took as a sign that he wanted to allow her a forum to express her concerns.
She praised Christie for supporting “greater dialogue” about parental rights but said she had never heard him link autism and vaccination or discourage parents from getting shots for their children.
“I think he’s been very brave on this issue,” she said. “He’s been constant and courageous on this issue, saying parents should be more involved in the discussion.”
The link between vaccination and autism was alleged in a small 1998 study that has now been widely discredited in the scientific community. The journal that published the study retracted it in 2010, and its author lost his medical license.
But many doctors had cast doubt on the study even before those actions, insisting that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was safe and effective at combating once deadly but now preventable diseases.
Both Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) drew fire in 2008 for seeming to give credence to the link. At one campaign appearance, Obama noted that “some people are suspicious” that skyrocketing rates autism rates might be linked to vaccines.
“The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it,” he said.
McCain said at a town-hall meeting in 2008 that there was “strong evidence that indicates it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.”
Obama has said recently that the science is now settled and has urged vaccination.
Nick Gillespie, editor in chief of the libertarian Reason magazine, said there is a vigorous debate over the vaccine issue, particularly whether government should mandate their use. He said Christie may have been trying to curry their favor with his emphasis on parental choice.
“There is a broadly ascending libertarian sentiment in the Republican Party,” he said. “Even mainstream establishment Republicans understand they need to speak to the libertarian wing.”
Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, who is considering a long-shot 2016 run, also appeared to endorse parental choice for vaccines in a BuzzFeed interview last week.
“I think vaccinating for measles makes a lot of sense. But that’s me. I do think parents have to make those choices. I mean, I got measles as a kid. We used to all get measles,” she said. “I got chicken pox, I got measles, I got mumps.”
Fiorina also drew a distinction between the measles vaccine and one intended to combat human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexual infection that can lead to cervical cancer. The vaccine sparked controversy in the 2012 campaign when then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) blasted then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry for helping to institute a mandate requiring most girls in Texas to get the HPV vaccine.
Some social conservatives object to a mandate because they argue it would suggest to young girls that having sex is acceptable.
But the issue later backfired on Bachmann when she falsely suggested that the HPV vaccine might cause mental retardation.
Philip Rucker is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post, where he has reported since 2005.
Rosalind Helderman is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for the Washington Post.
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