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Measles, an extremely contagious and potentially dangerous disease, continues to spread in the United States, with more than 700 cases reported this year in epidemics that public health officials say would be caused by the refusal of vaccine-based vaccines. misinformation and conspiracy.
Across the country, local leaders have struggled to cope with new measles infections – the worst in decades – which experts say will become a new normality. Legislators in several states are wondering who should be exempted from the vaccine mandate. Should religious or personal belief exemptions be allowed in addition to medical reasons? Should the demystified fears that vaccines cause autism give rise to medical exemptions?
In this spirit, BuzzFeed News has asked each presidential candidate of 2020 to clarify his position on vaccines. We asked:
- What do you think of vaccines?
- Do you believe that vaccines are a possible cause of autism?
- Do you support efforts to end exemptions from personal and religious beliefs by leaving only medical exemptions?
Nine Democrats provided answers to BuzzFeed News, describing the necessary vaccines, but taking different approaches to exemptions. Others have supported vaccines but have not publicly announced who should be able to refuse immunity – a topic that has sparked heated debate and demonstrations in some communities, as low immunization rates expose more people to immunity. people at risk of infection.
On the Republican side, the White House has highlighted President Trump's recent comments in favor of vaccination, although he has previously spread false statements about their danger.
President Donald Trump
Trump first addressed measles outbreaks last week by addressing reporters outside the White House.
"They have to get vaccinated," he said. "Vaccinations are so important."
This differs from what he's been saying about vaccines for years on Twitter. In dozens of tweets, Trump said that vaccines cause autism – which several studies have shown, that's not true.
"A healthy young child goes to the doctor, gets pumped with a massive injection of many vaccines, does not feel well and changes – AUTISM," he said in 2014. "Many similar cases!"
Trump also promoted vaccine spacing, suggesting that it could be safer. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also warned parents against any departure from their immunization schedule; it leaves young children exposed to certain diseases at a particularly vulnerable age.
During his transition, Trump sought to establish a vaccine safety committee led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent skeptic on vaccines. This has never happened and since then, Trump has not publicly repeated his earlier claims that vaccines cause autism.
Joe Biden
The former vice president did not answer questions. Biden has however been an advocate for medical research and has encouraged the use of cancer vaccines.
"I look forward to the day when your grandchildren and grandchildren and their children will come to the office to get physically prepared to start school and get vaccinated against measles." They will receive a vaccine who is attacking important causes of cancer, "he said. discuss the Moonshot Cancer Coalition in 2016.
In particular, the Biden Cancer Initiative is promoting the HPV vaccine for all boys and girls as young as 12 to prevent cancer.
Senator Bernie Sanders
"Bernie thinks that vaccines work and are essential for public health in general, but cases of serious but preventable diseases have been greatly reduced and many have been completely eliminated through vaccines," a spokesman told BuzzFeed.
The vaccines are the subject of rigorous clinical trials and are controlled by the Food and Drug Administration, and there is no evidence that they cause autism, the campaign added. Exemptions should be rare.
Bernie believes that withdrawal can create life-threatening risks for children with illnesses who may not be able to receive a vaccine and would then be exposed to children who are not vaccinated.Every exemption should be rare and needs-based public health, "said the spokesman. .
Senator Kamala Harris
A spokesman for Harris kept it simple: "She thinks people should be vaccinated."
Harris refused to answer additional questions.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg
"The law of the land for more than a century states that states can impose mandatory vaccination to ensure public safety in order to prevent the spread of a dangerous disease." Pete supports certain exceptions except in case of emergency to prevent a home, "spokesman Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said the Mayor at BuzzFeed News.
Buttigieg believes that the exemptions are appropriate for people who can not be vaccinated for medical reasons. Personal beliefs and religious exemptions should only be allowed in states that do not face a public health crisis and where herd immunization rates are maintained.
"These exemptions include medical exemptions in all cases (such as in cases where it is dangerous to get vaccinated), and personal / religious exemptions if states can maintain the immunity of the local flock and that". there is no public health crisis, "said the spokesman.
Senator Elizabeth Warren
Warren did not answer questions, but in the past, he supported the CDC's recommendations on vaccines and the importance of funding disease prevention.
"So, the more we do at the beginning for everyone to have access to vaccines, the less we will see people contracting hepatitis A, measles, whooping cough, all other diseases preventable by vaccination", a- she declared. Senate hearing in March. "This administration has repeatedly sought to remove the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which supports key immunization programs, and has continued its efforts to weaken the Medicaid program, which covers all recommended vaccines for children and for I am happy that most of my colleagues are on the same page about the importance of vaccines. "Now, let's also make sure the importance of funding for public health so that people have access to these vaccines. "
Beto O 'Rourke
The former US representative did not answer questions from BuzzFeed News. However, bills relating to vaccines and exemptions have been routinely filed in the state of Texas, where OW Rourke resides. During his race in the Senate in 2018, the anti-vaccine group Texans for Vaccine Choice asked him if he thought parents should be able to retreat. to vaccinate their children.
"I know about as much as any parent, and my three children are vaccinated," said Rourke in a video released by the group. "I know it's a problem on which some people have a divergence of opinion.I am not as informed as I should be to give you a thoughtful answer."
Senator Cory Booker
"First and foremost, there is evidence that vaccines reduce the incidence of terrible diseases.Vaccines provide safety and health.We must trust scientists working on vaccine development. and to the health professionals who administer them, "he told BuzzFeed News. .
Booker added that there was no scientific link between vaccines and autism.
"We should limit the number of immunization exemptions to a small number of medical circumstances," he said.
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar did not answer the questions.
"I believe in science.Many studies do not indicate any link between vaccines and autism," Andrew Yang, a New York entrepreneur, told BuzzFeed News.
Mr. Yang added that he supports the California standard for immunization, which requires that children attending a school or day care be vaccinated, unless there is a medical exemption.
Julián Castro
Castro, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama, did not answer questions.
John Hickenlooper
Hickenlooper did not answer the questions. But while Colorado's governor, he was facing the country's lowest vaccination rates.
"Children who can be vaccinated need to be vaccinated," Hickenlooper told The Colorado Independent in 2015. "There are these urban myths – and in many cases, they are now suburban myths and rural myths – that the Vaccinations increase the likelihood of autism or other anonymous disorders. diseases. But there is no science to support that. Science clearly states that having more and more unvaccinated people puts other children at risk. "
Hickenlooper has published several public service announcements in the performance of his duties, but critics wondered if he was doing enough. Colorado allows religious and philosophical exemptions from vaccines as well as medical exemptions.
Sen.. Kirsten Gillibrand
"Vaccines save lives, not only providing individual protection, but also vulnerable populations, including young children, pregnant women and people with underlying health problems," Gillibrand told BuzzFeed News. "In simple terms, they are essential to the protection of public health."
Gillibrand, a New York senator, added that research has shown no correlation between vaccines and autism and has called for increased education to combat misinformation about vaccine safety. She did not detail her position on the exemptions.
John Delaney
"I think they're needed," said the former Maryland US representative at BuzzFeed News in a statement.
Delaney added that he did not believe that vaccines were a cause of autism and that exemptions should be considered depending on the nature of certain diseases. For a highly contagious disease such as measles, only medical exemptions should be allowed.
Jay Inslee
Inslee, the governor of Washington, did not answer questions, but the legislature of his home country recently passed a bill to end exemptions from personal beliefs about vaccines, which He is supposed to adopt. Washington continues to allow religious and medical exemptions.
"Vaccines are essential to protect our children and prevent the spread of the disease," he said. m said on Twitter last month.
Tulsi Gabbard
Gabbard did not answer the questions.
Representative Seth Moulton
"Vaccines have saved more lives than almost any other progress in the history of humanity," said a Massachusetts congressman at BuzzFeed News. "That's why we do not die of smallpox anymore or lose our legs to polio."
Moulton blamed the current measles outbreaks on the anti-vaccine movement as well as the kind of skepticism shown by President Trump. To address it, he called for linking federal funding for education to stricter compliance with vaccines – allowing only medical exemptions – while providing vaccines to all Americans at a low cost. or even zero.
"The measles is bad, the vaccines are good, these truths, for lack of a better expression, are self-evident, not vaccinating children is dangerous for them and represents a risk for public health for all", a- he declared. "Trump might not understand that, but the vast majority of the American people understand."
Representative Tim Ryan
"I believe that mandatory vaccinations and vaccinations are essential to the safety of our families, our children and our communities," said Ohio representative Tim Ryan.
Ryan told BuzzFeed News that he did not believe that vaccines cause autism, and he is in favor of lifting exceptions to personal and religious beliefs.
Representative Eric Swalwell
"The recent measles outbreak is a totally preventable crisis that puts the health of the public at risk, especially children," said California Representative Eric Swalwell at BuzzFeed News. "Rather than take our country out of the crisis, President Trump, who had previously peddled non-vaccine-based theories, instead spent his time tweeting his grievances with the Mueller report, the media, and his political opponents."
Swalwell stated that he did not believe that vaccines cause autism and he was in favor of lifting exceptions to personal and religious beliefs.
"No one should endanger the lives of others," he said.
Bill Weld
The only Republican who said he would challenge Trump in the primary did not answer questions.
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