Joe Rogan, who once coached the contestants of Fear Factor through drinking donkey semen, now says that healthy young people shouldn’t be vaccinated against COVID-19. Via Media Matters, the highly compensated Spotify podcast host and all-around moron contradicted CDC guidelines on his April 23rd episode, saying, “If you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I go no.”
Rogan has long advocated for a kind of “thinking for yourself” that is unrecognizable as thinking: giving a platform to far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, spreading misinformation about the novel coronavirus, and repeatedly attacking trans people. He has said plenty of things that could endanger one group or another, but in something of a change of pace, he is now espousing a medical perspective that could get his own listeners killed. He said,
“I think you should get vaccinated if you’re vulnerable. I think you should get vaccinated if you feel like — my parents are vaccinated. I’ve encouraged a lot of people to get — and people say, do you think it’s safe to get vaccinated? I’ve said, yeah, I think for the most part it’s safe to get vaccinated. I do. I do.
“But if you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go no. Are you healthy? 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.”
Pfizer has been approved for everyone 16 and up, while Moderna is cleared starting at 18 years old. And it’s important that young people are vaccinated; as Dr. Fauci has said, we won’t achieve herd immunity until 70-80% of the population has been inoculated. Until then, the virus will see resurgent outbreaks, as is \ happening in Michigan, where young people are being hit hard. Dr. Erin Brennan, an emergency room physician in Detroit, recently told the New York Times that, “I am putting more patients in their 20s and 30s and 40s on oxygen and on life support than at any other time in this pandemic.”
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This isn’t the first time that Rogan has assumed his experience as a pothead podcaster qualified him to comment on epidemiology. In January, after Rogan hung out with Dave Chappelle, Elon Musk, and Grimes, both Grimes and Chappelle tested positive for COVID-19. Afterwards, Rogan announced that Grimes had not infected Chappelle, though he didn’t offer proof other than, you know, vibes. Last year, Rogan moved from California to Texas, ostensibly because California had stricter coronavirus protocols.
Spotify’s Joe Rogan encourages “healthy” young people not to get a coronavirus vaccine. His show is Spotify’s most popular podcast.
“If you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go no.” pic.twitter.com/5dX98xUaHS
— Alex Paterson (@AlexPattyy) April 27, 2021
