Forced vaccinations quote attributed to Chelsea Clinton is fabricated | Fact check

The claim: Chelsea Clinton said it’s ‘time to force-jab every unvaccinated child in America’

A May 8 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of an article about Chelsea Clinton.

“Chelsea Clinton: ‘It’s Time To Force-Jab Every Unvaccinated Child in America,’” reads the article's headline.

The post was liked nearly 900 times in less than a day. Another version of the claim was shared nearly 10,000 times on Twitter.

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Our rating: False

There is no evidence Clinton said vaccines should be forced, and her spokesperson said the claim is false. Clinton is involved in an initiative that aims to boost child vaccination rates around the world following a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the World Health Organization said the initiative does not promote mandatory vaccinations.

Clinton part of immunization effort, not pushing mandatory shots

The screenshots were taken from a May 5 article by The People’s Voice, which describes itself as a conservative outlet “committed to covering the headlines mainstream outlets shy away from.” 

Its “Terms of Use” section says it makes “no representations about the suitability, reliability, availability, timeliness and accuracy of the information” on the website. USA TODAY previously debunked the website's claim that the media admitted governments use geoengineering to manipulate the weather.

The article claims Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, made the assertion while promoting “The Big Catch-up,” an initiative to increase childhood vaccination rates in collaboration with organizations including the World Health Organization and UNICEF. 

But Clinton did not make any such remark in relation to the initiative. 

Clinton discussed the initiative at Fortune’s Brainstorm Health conference in April and said she hopes it will become the “largest childhood immunization effort ever,” as reported by Fortune. 

“No one should die of polio, measles or pneumonia – including in this country, where we also need people to vaccinate their kids,” Clinton said.

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The Clinton Foundation said claims Clinton argued in favor of forced vaccinations are false. 

“She did not say this," said spokesperson Sara Horowitz. 

An April 24 WHO news release said the initiative was launched in response to declining worldwide child vaccination rates in recent years. Among other efforts to reverse the trend, partners work with governments to improve health service delivery and increase trust in and demand for vaccines.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released in January showed immunization rates for diseases including measles and polio dropped among kindergartners in the 2021-2022 school year, continuing a downward trend seen in recent years, as reported by USA TODAY. 

There are “no mandatory vaccinations" associated with the collaborative effort, according to WHO spokesperson Daniel Epstein. He added that some countries, however, may require vaccines for children to enroll in school. 

USA TODAY previously debunked claims with fabricated Clinton quotes on race and Planned Parenthood.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

--Daniel Epstein, May 9, Email exchange with USA TODAY 

--Sara Horowitz, May 9, Email exchange with USA TODAY 

--Fortune, April 25, Chelsea Clinton is working to stand up ‘the largest childhood immunization effort ever’ with the Gates Foundation and the WHO 

--WHO, April 24, Global partners announce a new effort – “The Big Catch-up” – to vaccinate millions of children and restore immunization progress lost during the pandemic

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