Last week on his podcast, Joe Rogan weighed in on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, opining that young, healthy people can probably forgo getting immunized against the coronavirus. “If you’re, like, 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go, ‘No,’†said the immensely popular podcast host during his April 23 episode with comedian Dave Smith. “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.†As you can imagine, this prompted a rebuke from Dr. Anthony Fauci, as well as any number of people who just want the coronavirus pandemic to be over before the next pandemic hits. On Thursday, the host of The Joe Rogan Experience, currently Spotify’s number-one podcast, circled back on his comments, explaining, “I’m not a doctor; I’m a fucking moron.â€
“I’m not an anti-vaxx person. In fact, I said I believe they’re safe and I encourage many people to take them. My parents are vaccinated,†Rogan said as part of a conversation with comedian Andrew Santino. “I just said, I don’t think that if you’re a young, healthy person, that you need it.†As health authorities have stressed over the last few months, vaccination not only protects the recipient, but also helps prevent them from passing it along to others, including older, more medically vulnerable people.
When asked about Rogan’s comments on NBC’s Today show Wednesday, Fauci discussed how unvaccinated, asymptomatic people can still pass along COVID-19. “You’re talking about yourself in a vacuum, then,†he said. “You’re worried about yourself getting infected, and the likelihood you’re not going to get any symptoms, but you can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk. And even if you don’t have any symptoms, you’re propagating the outbreak, because it is likely that you, even if you have no symptoms, may inadvertently and innocently then infect someone else, who might infect someone who really could have a problem with a severe outcome.â€
“Their argument was, you need it for other people,†Rogan clarified during Thursday’s episode. “That makes more sense.†He also emphasized that he shouldn’t be considered a respected source of information. “These are not planned statements,†he said. “When I say something stupid, I’m not thinking about what I’m going to say before I say it. I’m just saying it.†Explained the comedian, “I’m not a doctor, I’m a fucking moron, and I’m a cage-fighting commentator who’s a dirty stand-up comedian.†Said Rogan, “I’m not a respected source of information, even for me.â€