In an excerpt from a recent conversation between former President Donald Trump and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., published online, Trump suggested that vaccines given to children to protect them from disease are harmful. He also exaggerated the number of vaccines given to children and falsely claimed that they caused sudden and visible changes. Neither campaign responded to requests for comment.
TRUMP: “A vaccination that amounts to 38 different vaccines and looks like it’s meant for a horse, not a 10- or 20-pound baby” and “then you see the baby suddenly starting to change radically. I’ve seen this many times. And then you hear that it has no impact, right?”
THE FACTS: There are no vaccines against 38 diseases. Babies or young children may receive four or five vaccines during a check-up to protect them against dangerous and deadly diseases. The American Academy of Pediatricians says a handful of vaccines do not overwhelm a healthy child’s immune system. After all, babies’ immune systems are strong enough to deal with the large number of germs they encounter daily.
Children’s vaccines train young bodies to recognize and fight viruses and bacteria they haven’t yet been exposed to – diseases that tend to be especially dangerous at young ages. They are approved for use only after rigorous safety and effectiveness testing.
Then they come under even greater scrutiny as each year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the pediatrics group review the childhood vaccination schedule – which injections to give at what age.
Full protection usually requires more than one dose, and delaying the shot could leave the child at risk of getting sick before they get back to normal.
Vaccines prevent an estimate 3.5 million to 5 million deaths every yearaccording to the World Health Organization, nearly eliminating many diseases once common in regions where vaccines are easily accessible.
Common combination vaccines fight a few diseases at once – measles, mumps and rubella, the MMR vaccine, or diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis or whooping cough, called DTaP. Multiple vaccinations are only given together if this is also proven to be safe, whether separate injections at one appointment or the three-in-one combination.
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Find AP fact checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
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