Joe Rogan on Thursday addressed comments he previously made on his popular Spotify podcast in which he said young, healthy people should skip the COVID-19 vaccination. The remarks came under fire, even being addressed by Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease doctor.
During the latest installment of The Joe Rogan Experience, the comic-actor said he was not a doctor and that he believes younger people should be vaccinated because even if they are not severely impacted by the virus themselves, they could still spread it to others who are not as fortunate.
“I am not an anti-vax person,” Rogan said. “In fact, I said I believe they are safe and I encourage many people to take them. I just said if you’re a young healthy person, you don’t need it. Their argument was you need it for other people. But that’s a different conversation. And yes, that makes sense.”
Rogan’s earlier comments that sparked the controversy included, “Are you a healthy person? Like, look, don’t do anything stupid, but you should take care of yourself. You should — if you’re a healthy person, and you’re exercising all the time, and you’re young, and you’re eating well, like, I don’t think you need to worry about this.”
Fauci on Wednesday said Rogan’s advice was dangerous. “So if you want to only worry about yourself and not society, then that’s OK,” Fauci said. “But if you’re saying to yourself, ‘Even if I get infected, I could do damage to someone else even if I don’t have any symptoms at all,’ that’s the reason you have to be careful and get vaccinated.”
Rogan argued that the situation got out of control because of “click bait” media coverage.
Added Rogan, “I am not a doctor. I am a fucking moron. I am a cage-fighting commentator … I am not a respected source of information even for me. But I at least try to be honest about what I am saying.”
