Parents “need to have some measure of choice” about vaccinating their children against the measles, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Monday.
He said his children have been vaccinated but defended the rights of parents to make their own decisions about vaccinations.
{mosads}“It’s more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. 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 added, according to The New York Times.
A measles outbreak that has been blamed on unvaccinated children has spurred a debate over vaccination.
In advance of the Super Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona was monitoring more than 1,000 people for exposure to the disease. Schools in California, where the outbreak began at Disneyland, have been asking unvaccinated children to stay home from school.
President Obama in a Sunday interview said parents should get their children vaccinated and described the science behind vaccines as “pretty indisputable.”
Christie, who made his comments in London, said that “not every vaccine is created equal, and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others,” the Times reported.
The New Jersey governor is expected to run for the White House. He launched a political action committee last week and has made other foreign trips in the last year, in addition to his visit to London this week.
— This story was corrected at 9:15 a.m.