- Trump told NPR he is pro-vaccine and feels "comfortable" with being fully vaccinated.
- But he also suggested that he doesn't think people who aren't old or immunocompromised should take it.
- Multiple studies have proven that vaccinations help protect against COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Former President Donald Trump, who is triple-vaccinated, has wrongly suggested that people should only get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they were of a certain age or had preexisting health issues.
In an NPR interview published Wednesday, Trump said he believed the pandemic "is going to phase out" despite millions of Americans not having been fully vaccinated.
"You know, there are many people that have had it, if you look at the numbers," Trump told NPR's Steve Inskeep.
"I don't know why they would be getting the vaccine for the most part, unless they were at a certain age group and they had certain problems, whether it's the high blood pressure … diabetes and, you know, various things in particular."
Multiple studies have proven that vaccinations and boosters help protect against COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone over the age of 5 get vaccinated.
Trump has in recent weeks heavily endorsed COVID-19 vaccinations, and told NPR he felt "very comfortable" being vaccinated. However, much of his base remains anti-vaccination, and in a live interview last month he told his supporters not to boo when he revealed that he had received his booster shot.
He also said he doesn't believe in vaccine mandates, saying they're "bad for the economy." Last year, President Joe Biden is rolled out two COVID-19 vaccine mandates for private companies and health workers, but they have been ensnared in a series of court cases that has since reached the Supreme Court.
The NPR interview, which was meant to last 15 minutes, was cut short after Trump hung up the phone while being challenged over his false election-fraud claims.
The former president has discussed who he thinks should take the COVID-19 vaccine.
In an interview with the One America Network, which aired on Tuesday, Trump said he doesn't think "young, healthy" people should take the vaccine.
"I don't think that certainly, these young kids should take it ... their immune systems are so strong," he said, according to a clip of the interview published by Mediaite.
As of Tuesday, just over 60% of the US population has received both vaccinations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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