--- title: Rand Paul Gets Vaccine After Being Accused of Anti-Vaccine Stance description: “There’s 400 headlines now that say ‘Paul says vaccines cause mental disorders'" canonical: https://time.com/3694776/rand-paul-vaccine/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-04T00:18:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:52.093Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rand Paul Got a Hepatitis A Vaccine og:description: “There’s 400 headlines now that say ‘Paul says vaccines cause mental disorders'" og:url: https://time.com/3694776/rand-paul-vaccine/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rand Paul Got a Hepatitis A Vaccine twitter:description: “There’s 400 headlines now that say ‘Paul says vaccines cause mental disorders'" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Rand Paul Attempts to Inoculate Himself Against Hepatitis, Criticism  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Feb 4, 2015 12:18 AM UTC  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Feb 4, 2015 12:18 AM UTC Senator Rand Paul tweeted a photo himself getting a booster vaccine Tuesday, a day after the Kentucky Republican’s remarks on mandatory vaccinations caused a media storm. > [](https://twitter.com/SenRandPaul/status/562740037293715456) The likely 2016 presidential contender said during a _CNBC_ interview on Monday that he’s “heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines.” “There’s 400 headlines now that say ‘Paul says vaccines cause mental disorders,’” the libertarian [told a New York _Times_ reporter](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/03/rand-paul-gets-a-booster-vaccination/), whom he’d invited to document his Hepatitis A vaccine. “That’s not what I said. I said I’ve heard of people who’ve had vaccines and they see a temporal association and they believe that.” Paul’s comments came amid [an ongoing vaccine debate](http://time.com/3693977/2016-presidential-race-measles-chris-christie-rand-paul-hillary-clinton/) prompted by a worsening measles outbreak in the U.S. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also received criticism on Monday for saying parents should have “some measure of choice” in vaccinating their children. Many public figures have since joined the vaccine conversation following Paul’s comments, including presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who [tweeted](http://time.com/3693294/hillary-clinton-childhood-vaccinations-medicine-immunizations-rand-paul-chris-christie/) Monday, “The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork.” \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/03/rand-paul-gets-a-booster-vaccination/)\] ### See the 2016 Candidates Looking Very Presidential  Sen. Ted Cruz is surrounded by stars and stripes at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 26, 2014. Mark Peterson—Redux  Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton gazes pensively into the distance at Iowa Senator Tom Harken'a annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa on September 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis for TIME  Jeb Bush Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush flashes a power watch before giving his keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in Washington on Nov. 20, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Bernie Sanders waves to supporters after officially announcing his candidacy for the U.S. presidency during an event at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont, on May 26, 2015. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Chris Christie New Jersey Governor Chris Christie strikes a presidential power stance at the ceremony for the opening of the 206 bypass in Hillsborough, New Jersey on October 28, 2013. Mark Peterson—Redux  Former Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina listens to her introduction from the side of the stage at the Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 24, 2015. Jim Young—Reuters  Rand Paul Sen. Rand Paul works a crowd during a campaign stop on October 24, 2014 in McDonough, Georgia. Jessica McGowan—Getty Images  Rick Perry Texas Gov. Rick Perry looks powerfully patriotic during the National Anthem before an NCAA college football game on Nov. 27, 2014, in College Station, Texas. David J. Phillip—AP  Bobby Jindal Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal looks to the future during The Family Leadership Summit on Aug. 9, 2014, in Ames, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall—AP  Martin O'Malley Maryland Governor Martin OíMalley ponders decorating ideas in front of his possible future home on CBS's Face the Nation on Feb. 23, 2014. Chris Usher—AP  Marco Rubio Sen. Marco Rubio looks determined the morning after the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. on January 29, 2014. Melissa Golden—Redux  Ben CarsonBen Carson at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference on March 8, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Jim Webb Retiring Sen. Jim Webb imitates the presidential wave during a rally in Virginia Beach, Va. on Sept. 27, 2012. Steve Helber—AP  John Kasich Ohio Gov. John Kasich practices his presidential victory pose at the Ohio Republican Party celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio. Tony Dejak—AP  Rick Santorum Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum looks resolute at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 7, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis  Scott Walker Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker practices the presidential point on March 3, 2014 in Milwaukee. Jeffrey Phelps—AP  Mike Huckabee Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee fine-tunes his presidential oratory at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in National Harbor, Md. on March 7, 2014. Susan Walsh—AP  Lincoln Chafee, Former Rhode Island Governor, poses for a selfie with a student after announcing he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters  Lindsey Graham Lindsey Graham announced his plans to join the 2016 presidential race. Alex Wong—Getty Images  George Pataki Former New York governor George Pataki listens to a question at the First in the Nation Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, in this April 17, 2015 file photo. Brian Snyder—Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3694776/rand-paul-vaccine/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3694776/rand-paul-vaccine/"},"headline":"Rand Paul Attempts to Inoculate Himself Against Hepatitis, Criticism","datePublished":"2015-02-04T00:18:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:52.093Z","description":"Kentucky Republican got vaccinated a day after being criticized over vaccine remarks","url":"https://time.com/3694776/rand-paul-vaccine/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3694776/rand-paul-vaccine/","name":"Rand Paul Attempts to Inoculate Himself Against Hepatitis, Criticism"}}]}] ```