It's official: this GOP senator and veteran doctor is now an anti-vaccine crank

Last weekend, Roger Marshall had his coming-out party on national television as an anti-vaccine crank.

Of course the Republican U.S. senator from Kansas denies that he’s anything of the sort, but his lengthy interview on CBS's Face the Nation should appall anyone who cares about public health. He told host Margaret Brennan that certain vaccines weren’t needed in certain cases, that other vaccines had been overhyped and that everyone just needed to stop worrying so much about COVID-19. Marshall has tossed moms and babies overboard in his eagerness to appease anti-science conspiracy-mongers.

His capitulation to wingnuttery would be hilarious if it wasn’t so deeply dangerous.

But let’s look at the interview. Let’s examine his statements and really think about them. Thankfully, CBS posted a complete transcript, so we can hang on every syllable. Not that I would recommend it.

Marshall: “In my humble opinion, not every person needs every vaccine. And I don’t think there’s many children out there that need 76 jabs by the time they’re old enough to vote.”

Note the word used here: “Jabs.” That’s an aggressive, painful word. He doesn’t use “inoculations” or even “vaccinations.” No, he says “jabs.”

Why? What’s he trying to convey?

Marshall also emphasizes the number 76. That sounds big and scary and unacceptable, fit for a protest sign. In reality, vaccines are given in multiple doses to maximize immune response. You can see the CDC vaccination chart below; it’s not secret. There are vaccines against 19 illnesses listed, including flu shots and a couple based on individual circumstances.

The only reason to use that number is for Marshall to curry favor with folks who reject the astonishing advances of modern science. That would include Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who apparently rejects the germ theory of disease.

Has Marshall joined the secretary in his skepticism? Has he thrown off the tyranny of germ-focused medicine to focus on battling spirits of illness instead?

But we need to press forward.

Marshall on the Hepatitis B vaccine, which is given to newborns:

“If that mom has a negative Hepatitis test, she’s in a stable, monogamous relationship, she’s not doing IV drugs, she’s not letting her baby play in a sandbox full of used needles, then there’s zero chance that that baby’s going to have Hepatitis. Now, there’s other moms that — or other babies that do need it, OK. We need to be more specific. We can’t be overly prescriptive. If that mom has not had prenatal care, if she’s an IV drug-abuser, if she’s not in a stable relationship, a whole lot of reasons, but we need to pick-and-choose. Not every baby needs Hepatitis vaccine, and especially on day number one. What are these vaccines doing to mess with the immune system of that particular baby as well?”

Absolute bull hockey. To respond, I’ll turn to fellow Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. He’s also a physician, and he posted this Twitter thread:

“Not all mothers have prenatal care. Some get infected between testing in the first trimester and delivery. In some cases, the test is overlooked. If a child is infected at birth, they have a 95 percent chance of becoming chronically infected UNLESS, they get one dose of hepatitis B vaccine. If they do, they have less than a 5 percent chance of being chronically infected.

“If someone is infected at birth, they have a much higher chance of developing liver cancer and of spreading hepatitis B to others.

“The vaccine is safe as proven by study after study. MAHA starts with preventing vaccine preventable diseases.”

To understand the moral imperative here, we need to step way back. Most illnesses don’t permanently harm people. But most smokers don’t die of lung cancer, either. Vaccines and common health ensure that when exceptions happen, you and your family and loved ones will be protected. If only one person in 1,000 dies from a preventable illness, we still have 330 million people in the United States, and 3 million in Kansas.

Over time, vaccines and good health advice reduce the number of folks unlucky enough to fall ill. That one in 1,000 becomes one in 10,000, or one in a million.

As decades pass, because of the sheer quantity, vast numbers of lives are saved. Children are born to parents who might otherwise have died. Those children have children of their own and so on.

Vaccines are one of the single biggest pro-life inventions of the modern age.

Marshall: “Why does everybody lose their minds when it comes to COVID vaccine? Why can’t we let the doctor and the parents decide? Let the patients decide.”

Well, because of people like you, senator. You chose to embrace the rhetoric and outright grift of snake-oil salesmen rather than support basic public health measures. You even made a fuss about taking hydroxychloroquine to supposedly protect yourself from COVID-19!

What gall to suggest that Americans somehow behave irrationally when they want to protect themselves from the wave of infection that you enabled for the past half-decade?

As I stated at the beginning of this column, Marshall emphatically rejects the suggestion that he opposes vaccines. He tried to eat his cake and have to too by telling Brennan: “Before you label me a non-vaxxer-person, look, I’ve raised money for polio vaccinations. The MMR is a great vaccine. It saved thousands of lives. Vaccines, overall, have saved hundreds of millions of lives, but not every person needs every vaccine. And we just want to empower parents and the doctors to make great decisions.”

He can say that. He may even believe it. I personally believe that Marshall should be ashamed.

I expect he would have problems if random Kansans posted a sign and started calling themselves OB-GYNs. I expect he would protest to medical authorities if those people started delivering babies without education or licensure.

Marshall trained for his job. He worked hard. He knows information and best practices that everyday people don’t. For a quarter-century, he worked as an expert.

Most people are not medical experts, either about delivering babies or vaccination schedules. They aren’t trained about infant and childhood health. They are trying to make it through a challenging world and make the best decisions possible for their families.

The commonly used childhood vaccine schedule does that. It allows doctors and nurses, who are already pressured by the demands of our health care system, to ensure that the greatest number of people receive the greatest benefit from the miracle drugs known as vaccines.

When our son was born, my husband and I were happy to see doctors vaccinate him against Hepatitis B. Not because we thought it likely, but because it put our minds at rest. We were happy to watch him complete the full round of childhood vaccines. Again, not because we thought dire illnesses were circulating, but because we knew they would safeguard his health if worse came to worse

Follow the recommended vaccine schedule. Listen to your doctors. Protect the health of those you love and everyone else.

Marshall has betrayed the babies he delivered and the mothers who turned to him for care. He has sacrificed his decades of experience to worship at the golden calf of RFK Jr. and anti-science charlatans. Our nation and this state will suffer the consequences.