Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, on Sunday hesitantly corrected Donald Trump, who falsely claimed the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was “lethal.”
On “Face the Nation,” CBS host Margaret Brennan played a clip of Trump claiming, without evidence, that the MMR vaccine, which is routinely given during childhood, could be “lethal” if administered as a single combination shot. He made the comments on the same day he signed a new executive order to revise vaccine recommendations.
“The president twice said the shot may be lethal. Do you want to clarify that?” Brennan asked.
Oz said Trump wants Americans “to get the treatments that their doctors are recommending to them, but we also want parents to have the autonomy to decide what their kids receive.”
“On the MMR vaccine, specifically?” Brennan interjected.
“On the MMR vaccine, but all the vaccines,” Oz continued. “My job is to —”
“But he said it was the MMR vaccine; he used the term ‘lethal.’ That’s what I’m asking you to clarify,” Brennan said.
Oz reiterated that Trump wants people to follow their doctor’s vaccine recommendations “as long as they have a choice in the matter.”
“The challenge we’re running into is that many states have not clarified that, and actually, it’s harder for parents to ask these difficult questions. And Margaret, here’s the real issue —”
Not letting up, Brennan again asked Oz if he wanted to clear up Trump’s claims about the vaccine.
“The MMR vaccine is not a lethal vaccine,” Oz finally admitted. “And it is offered in other countries. The measles, in particular, separately, like in Japan.”
“And they had problems with it in Japan once they started separating things out,” Brennan said.
Fact-checkers have debunked Trump’s claims that the vaccine was lethal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said the vaccine was safe.
In addition, doctors have called out Trump’s new executive order on vaccines, stressing that it could endanger kids during a time when measles is prevalent, immunization rates are decreasing and kids are returning to school.
Watch Oz’s appearance on “Face The Nation” below. Skip to the 9:11 mark for his comments about the MMR vaccine: