Hillary Clinton: The earth is round and vaccines work

Catalina Camia | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Hillary Clinton jabs Christie, Paul with vaccine tweet Hillary Clinton voiced her support for vaccinations tweeting "The earth is round, the sky is blue, and "#vaccineswork." Chris Christie and Rand Paul also both recently joined the debate, saying parents should have input when it comes to vaccines.

Hillary Rodham Clinton tweeted her support for vaccinations on Monday night, wading into a debate that moved to the front of the 2016 presidential campaign with comments from Chris Christie and Rand Paul.

Clinton, the former secretary of State and a likely Democratic candidate, came down on the side of doctors and scientists who believe in vaccinating children against diseases such as measles.

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While she didn't mention the Republicans by name, her tweet is viewed as a rebuke of Christie and Paul. She also used the hashtag #vaccineswork, as well as noting her status as a grandmother.

Clinton's tweet came after Christie, the New Jersey governor, told reporters the government should find "balance" on the issue and that "parents need to have some measure of choice" when it comes to immunizations. Christie later walked back his comments, issuing a statement through his office stressing that he believes "there is no question kids should be vaccinated" when it comes to diseases like the measles.

Paul, a Kentucky senator and ophthalmologist, then said in separate radio and cable TV interviews that he believes most vaccines should be "voluntary." While saying he is not anti-vaccine, Paul said in a heated CNBC interview that he believes "parents should have some input. The state doesn't own your children … and it is an issue of freedom and public health."

The Kentucky senator also offered that he had "heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who would up with profound mental disorders after vaccines." But he did not cite specifics.

The comments from Clinton, Christie and Paul came after President Obama encouraged parents to vaccinate their children, amid a measles outbreak that sickened more than 100 people in 14 states. Obama said the science regarding vaccines is "indisputable." Most of these measles cases have been linked to an outbreak that originated at Disney theme parks in California.

Obama and Clinton have changed their view on vaccines since they battled each other for the Democratic nomination in 2008. Obama said in an NPR interview that he believed "the science right now is inconclusive" regarding vaccines that cause autism. Clinton that year told an autism group that she was committed to determining "what, if any, kind of link there is between vaccines and autism."

Medical experts such as the American Academy of Pediatrics have said there is no scientific link between measles vaccination and autism.

Republicans pounced on Clinton's tweet.

"Since Hillary Clinton is running for President Obama's third term, it's no surprise she abruptly changed her position just 24 hours after he restated his," said Michael Short, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

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