Trump implores parents to have their children get measles shots

President Trump on Friday weighed in on the measles outbreak, urging parents to have their children vaccinated against the disease.

“They have to get the shots. The vaccinations are so important,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “This is really going around now. They have to get their shots.”

President Trump on measles outbreak: “They have to get the shot. The vaccinations are so important.” pic.twitter.com/C3ZMJ4Srf1

— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 26, 2019

There are currently a record number of measles cases in the country, and the numbers are expected to climb. 

{mosads}According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 695 confirmed U.S. cases of measles, the highest since the disease was declared eliminated nationwide in 2000.

Hundreds of students and employees at two Los Angeles universities who couldn’t provide proof of vaccination were under quarantine Thursday and Friday after possible exposure to the disease.

The spike in cases this year has been driven, in part, by the spread of misinformation about vaccines. Anti-vaccination activists’ message has been amplified by social media, but has also found roots among members of specific communities, such as ultra-Orthodox Jews in New York.

Trump’s comments Friday differ from what he’s said in the past. In 2014, he questioned why children were getting “pumped” with vaccines. And at a Republican presidential primary debate on CNN in 2015, Trump again voiced support for the debunked theory that vaccines are linked to an increase in autism diagnoses.

Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn’t feel good and changes – AUTISM. Many such cases!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2014