Rep. Murphy to Newsmax: Prospect of Child Vaccine Mandates 'Problematic'

Rep. Greg Murphy says he's been an advocate since "day one" of people getting their COVID-19 vaccinations, but he still finds the idea that the shots are nearing approval and potential mandates for children ages 5-11 is a "little bit problematic."

"I had my family get vaccinated, who I care for much more than myself," the North Carolina Republican said on Newsmax's "National Report."

"I believe that this is a safe and effective medication [but] as we move forward, decisions that are normally and historically made between doctors and patients are now between governments and citizens."

And with the vaccines for children nearing, the potential for mandates is a concern, particularly since COVID-19 is not a childhood disease in the same manner that mumps, rubella, or measles are.

"It can affect children, but the devastating effects are so rare," he said.

He stressed, again, that he does want people to be vaccinated, as the shots are safe and effective, but "slamming it down people's throats, causing them to lose their jobs, causing them to go into poverty is going to create a lot more health problems than I think it's going to solve."

Meanwhile, he slammed Harvard University's Dr. Eric Rubin, one of the members of the independent Food and Drug Administration panel who said earlier this week that they'd recommend the youth vaccines.

Rubin had said that when it comes to the vaccines' safety, "it’s going to be a question of what the prevailing conditions are, but we’re never going to learn about how safe this vaccine is unless we start giving it," reports The Associated Press.

"This, in my opinion, is the most unconscionable, horrific statement ever made by anybody in medicine," said Murphy, adding that Rubin "needs to resign."

He also said he's concerned that the vaccines will be forced onto families.

"We need to start pushing another mandate down," said Murphy. "We're seeing now that we're losing so many of our military, losing so many of our other individuals because of these mandates. This is a problem for this administration. The problem is, you know, they made decisions based upon a motion rather than thinking through the consequences again."

Note: See Newsmax TV now carried in more than 100 million U.S. homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Frontier Ch. 115, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, Mediacom Ch. 277, AT&T TV Ch 349, FUBO and major OTT platforms like Roku, YouTube, Xumo, Pluto and most smart TV’s including Samsung+, Sony, LG, Vizio and more – Find All Systems that Carry Newsmax – Click Here