Dr. Oz says MMR vaccine is not lethal, countering Trump claims

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, directly countered President Trump's claims that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is "lethal." Oz stated on "Face the Nation" that the MMR vaccine is "not a lethal vaccine."

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No, the MMR vaccine is not a lethal vaccine.

President Trump had suggested that the MMR vaccine, when administered as a single shot, could be dangerous. He claimed that if the vaccines were separated into individual doses, they would not be lethal, despite separate MMR shots not being available in the U.S. "Together there could be a possibility they are quite lethal," Trump said. "Separately it looks like they are not at all lethal, but just very effective."

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Together there could be a possibility they are quite lethal. Separately it looks like they are not at all lethal, but just very effective.

Oz clarified that the Trump administration's goal is for Americans to get vaccinated as their doctors advise, while also respecting parental choice. "We want patients 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," Oz said. He noted that the discussion highlights a fundamental issue of parental rights to ask questions about vaccinations.

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We want patients 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.

The comments come as measles cases reach their highest levels in 35 years. Recent CDC figures show that measles vaccination rates for kindergartners have fallen below the 95% herd immunity threshold, dropping from 95.2% in the 2019-2020 school year to 92.4% in 2025-2026.

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the request of the president is to make sure that states offer parents either eligibility because of religious beliefs or other reasons why they may not want to have their kids take all the vaccines in order.