Gov. Chris Christie (Photo : Reuters)
Following the latest outbreak of measles that affected at least a hundred of people, politicians have started to engage in a heated debate over the safety and necessity of vaccines. President Obama for one, believes parents should have their kids vaccinated.
The Slate reports that President Obama is calling for parents to vaccinate their kids and to not believe unsupported views that vaccines can be dangerous. However, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie believes otherwise.
According to the President, there is no credible study that would say vaccines can be dangerous. he 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," he explained.
While Gov. Christie was not saying vaccines are off-limits and banned, the politician wants parents to have the choice not to have their kids vaccinates if they are apprehensive. He said his own kids are all vaccinated, but parents in general should be allowed to make their own choices over the matter. He also said he believe that not all diseases should be treated as a public health threat, to be responded to by vaccines. "Not every vaccine is created equal, and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others," he explained.
Although the debate among the politicians sounded innocent enough, analysts said this is coloured by political undertones. Gov. Christie is a Republican and many said his views are an automatic response to what Obama said, just because the President is a Democrat. Moreover, in a study by Adam Berinsky, poll data results show that Republicans tend to believe that vaccines can cause autism.
