Washington DC - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz contradicted shocking claims made by President Donald Trump about the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.

"In three separate vaccinations given at separate times, together there could be a possibility they are quite lethal," Trump said in the Oval Office on August 10.

"Separately, it looks like they are not at all lethal but just very effective – so for the MMR we want to have separate, separate visits, separate times."

Trump made the comments while signing an executive order pushing for the vaccine to be administered as three separate jabs. The order directly contradicted decades of scientific evidence supporting the safety of the MMR vaccine.

Israel-Palestine Palestine solidarity protesters sentenced for blocking Golden Gate Bridge traffic during anti-genocide action

When asked on CBS News' Face the Nation about Trump's repeated claim that the MMR vaccination is "lethal," Dr. Oz attempted to roll back the comments and reassure the public about the vaccine's safety.

"We want patients to get the treatments that their doctors are recommending to them," Dr. Oz told Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan on Sunday. "We also want parents to have the autonomy to decide what their kids receive."

"My job at CMS… On the MMR vaccine, but all the vaccines, my job is to pay for vaccines," he continued. "The president wants Americans… to get vaccinated as their doctors recommend – as long as they have choice in the matter."

"The challenge we're running into is that many states have not clarified that, and actually it is harder for parents to ask these difficult questions."

Brennan went on to push Dr. Oz specifically over Trump's claims, to which he responded emphatically: "The MMR vaccine is not a lethal vaccine."