Viral false COVID vaccine claim lands in Wisconsin governor's race after Tim Michels tweet
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Viral false COVID vaccine claim lands in Wisconsin governor's race after Tim Michels tweet
Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Fri, October 21, 2022 at 5:55 PM
MADISON - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention isn't requiring COVID-19 vaccines for school children but a viral false claim warning otherwise landed in the Wisconsin governor's race this week after Republican candidate Tim Michels suggested he wouldn't sign legislation adding a COVID vaccine to the state's slate of immunizations required for children to attend school despite no effort being afoot.
Michels' tweet came after a false claim was made by a Fox News contributor on Tuesday and repeated by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who tweeted on Oct. 18 to his 5.2 million followers that, "The CDC is about to add the Covid vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make the vax mandatory for kids to attend school."
"I'm hearing concerns from parents regarding the CDC's advice on vaccines," Michels tweeted two days later. "The COVID vaccine is new and should not be treated like more established vaccines. When I'm governor, parents, not the State, will decide what's best. We won't mandate it for school attendance. Would Evers?"
The original claim repeated by Carlson distorts the impact of a Thursday vote by a CDC advisory committee in favor of adding a COVID-19 vaccine to the recommended immunization schedule for children and adults, which acts as guidance for doctors. It is not a mandate and local and state officials are not required to adopt the recommendations.
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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/tim-michels-tweet-amplifies-false-203955285.html