In 2008, Obama called science on vaccines 'inconclusive'

President Barack Obama called the science behind vaccinations “indisputable” on Monday, but he once appeared to call a purported link between autism and vaccines “inconclusive.”

In 2008, as a senator and presidential candidate, Obama discussed the possible link between vaccines and autism.


“We’ve seen just a skyrocketing autism rate,” Obama said in April 2008 at a rally in Pennsylvania. “Some people are suspicious that it’s connected to the vaccines. This person included.”

(Shortly after the comments, Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor supplied a video showing that Obama had pointed to a member of the audience when he said “this person included.”)

Obama continued, “The science is right now inconclusive, but we have to research it.” (It’s not clear whether he was referring to science linking vaccines and autism or science explaining the rise in autism cases in the United States. POLITICO has asked the White House for clarification.)

The purported vaccine-autism link has sparked an anti-vaccination movement across the U.S. for years. So-called anti-vaxxers believe that ingredients in vaccines, such as thimerosal, cause autism in children — and their suspicions have spilled over into other types of diseases.

In 2012, the anti-vaccination movement was blamed for an outbreak of the whooping cough. Today, anti-vaxxers are being blamed for an outbreak of measles in the United States. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported on Sunday that at least 102 cases of measles have been recorded in 14 states this year.

By April 2008, when Obama was claiming research was inconclusive, scientists had already overwhelmingly rejected any causal relationship between vaccinations and autism.

In 2001, thimerosal was “ removed or reduced to trace amounts” in all childhood vaccines except for one type that treats the flu. In May 2004 — almost four years before Obama claimed that the science was “inconclusive” — the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, released a report rejecting any “causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.” The CDC strongly supported the results.

“Besides thimerosal, some people have had concerns about other vaccine ingredients in relation to autism as well. However, no links have been found between any vaccine ingredients and autism,” the CDC added.

When Obama made his vaccine remark, the U.S. was just ending another measles outbreak.

From Jan. 1 through April 2008, the CDC reported the highest number of measles cases since 2001, with 64 recorded cases. Of those, the CDC reported that 63 were not vaccinated.

Now, the U.S. faces a new outbreak of measles, due in part to the refusal of some parents to vaccinate their children. According to Frieden, the outbreak can be stopped “if we vaccinate well” and “increase those vaccination rates” so that fewer Americans are left “vulnerable.”

This time, Obama is speaking out in favor of vaccination.

“The science is, you know, pretty indisputable,” Obama told the “Today Show.” “We’ve looked at this again and again. There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren’t reasons to not.”

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the fuller context of Obama’s 2008 remarks.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Daniella Diaz @ 02/03/2015 10:42 AM Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the fuller context of Obama’s 2008 remarks.