WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would urge his supporters to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but acknowledged that some of them may refuse in the name of "freedom."

"I would recommend it, and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it," Trump told Fox News during a 20-minute telephone interview.

Trump noted "a lot of those people" who don't want the vaccine "voted for me, frankly. But ... again, we have our freedoms, and we have to live by that, and I agree with that also."

In early January, before leaving the White House, Trump and then-first lady Melania Trump received the vaccine, but did not disclose that fact publicly.

"It's a great vaccine, it's a safe vaccine and it's something that works," Trump told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo.