Washington, Aug 2026 : A senior health official in the Donald Trump administration has clarified that the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is not lethal, following remarks by the US President that raised questions about the safety of the widely used childhood vaccine.
Dr Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, made the clarification during an interview with CBS News programme “Face the Nation”, where he was repeatedly asked about Trump’s comments on the MMR vaccine.
“No, the MMR vaccine is not a lethal vaccine,” Oz said, directly addressing the President’s description of the vaccine.
The clarification comes as new data from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention showed that only about 92 per cent of kindergarten children received measles vaccination during the most recent school year. The figure is below the approximately 95 per cent coverage generally considered necessary to maintain herd immunity against measles.
The Trump administration has encouraged Americans to receive the MMR vaccine. However, Trump has argued that the three components of the combined vaccine should be administered separately and at different times.
In a recorded clip played during the programme, Trump said that administering the vaccines together could potentially be “quite lethal”, while suggesting that giving them separately appeared to be safe and effective. He called for separate visits and separate vaccination schedules.
CBS host Margaret Brennan pointed out that Trump had made the suggestion on more than one occasion and noted that the MMR vaccine is not currently available in the United States as three separate injections.
Brennan also said that Merck, the manufacturer of the MMR vaccine, would not be able to offer separate versions of the three vaccines for another decade.
Oz sought to emphasise that the administration wanted Americans to follow medical advice while retaining the freedom to make vaccination decisions.
“The President wants Americans, and he said this many times, to get vaccinated as their doctors recommend, as long as they have a choice in the matter,” Oz said.
The health official also pointed to countries such as Japan where measles, mumps and rubella vaccines have been administered separately. Brennan, however, noted that Japan had faced difficulties after separating the vaccines, including increased costs.
Oz said the federal government would continue funding vaccines for children from low-income families, regardless of whether they received combined or separately administered vaccines.
“We're going to pay for the vaccines no matter what,” he said.
He said the broader debate was also about whether parents should have the ability to question vaccination recommendations and seek religious or other exemptions from state vaccination requirements.
The MMR vaccine provides protection against three highly contagious viral diseases: measles, mumps and rubella. Measles is particularly concerning because it can cause serious complications, including pneumonia and inflammation of the brain, and can be fatal, especially among young children and people with weakened immune systems.
The decline in childhood vaccination coverage has raised concerns among public health experts because reduced immunisation can allow measles and other preventable diseases to spread more easily through communities. The latest debate has therefore placed renewed focus on vaccine confidence, parental choice and the importance of maintaining high immunisation coverage.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
