Joe Rogan Returns to the Subject of Vaccines

Says 'I'm not a doctor'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 30, 2021 8:05 AM CDT

Joe Rogan says he's not against vaccines—but he appears to be sticking to his view that young people don't need one for COVID-19. After the White House and Dr. Anthony Fauci countered Rogan's claims made on The Joe Rogan Experience last week, the podcast host again returned to the topic during Thursday's episode. "I'm not an anti-vax person. In fact, I said I believe they're safe and I encourage many people to take them. My parents were vaccinated," Rogan told comedian Andrew Santino, per CNN. "I just said, I don't think that if you're a young, healthy person, that you need it." "Their argument was you need it for other people," Rogan added, referring to the argument that young people need to be vaccinated so they don’t spread the virus to others, who are likely to have a worse outcome. "But that's a different argument. That's a different conversation."

Rogan said that argument "makes sense," but he didn't reverse his position that the idea of a child receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is "crazy." Instead, he said "vulnerable" people should be vaccinated to protect themselves. He did, however, note, "I'm not a doctor" and "not a respected source of information, even for me." In an op-ed, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner argues Rogan missed the opportunity to be "part of the solution," as his listeners are mostly young men. He noted "2,374 people under the age of 30 have died because of coronavirus infection" since the pandemic began and cited research showing Americans aged 20 to 49 were responsible for 70% of the spread of COVID-19 in the US as of October 2020. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek stood by Rogan on Wednesday as the company reported Rogan's show performed above expectations in Q1, per Variety. (More Joe Rogan stories.)

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