Joe Rogan tells listeners on his Spotify podcast NOT to get vaccinated if they're young and healthy

Joe Rogan, the buff broadcasting behemoth who commands a loyal following among his millions of fans, told listeners of his Spotify podcast there’s no need to get vaccinated if they’re fit and healthy.

His comments go against guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that say vaccinations are safe for everyone over 16, and are necessary for the country to reach herd immunity and safely open up.

Speaking on a newly-released episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan, 53, said he recommended ‘vulnerable’ people get the shot, adding his parents had received their vaccines.

‘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,’ he said.

‘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.’

His comments drew criticism on social media where people pointed out his lack of medical expertise; still, others said they were glad someone was speaking their mind about the issue.

Joe Rogan says he recommends vulnerable people get the vaccine, ‘but if you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go no’

On Twitter, user @juddlegum said: ‘My feeling is that, no matter what your age, you should not take medical advice from Joe Rogan.’

Another user pointed out his own experience with COVID-19 and called for Spotify to fire the podcaster. User @aweiss tweeted: ‘I spend 5 days in hospital and am still on supplemental oxygen because of COVID. I may have permanent lung scarring … They need to fire Joe Rogan immediately.’

@juddlegum tweeted: ‘My feeling is that, no matter what your age, you should not take medical advice from Joe Rogan’

User @aweiss tweeted: ‘I spend 5 days in hospital and am still on supplemental oxygen because of COVID. I may have permanent lung scarring … They need to fire Joe Rogan immediately’

Another podcaster, Brandon Farmahini, tweeted that Rogan’s take was ‘very cringy’. ‘Young healthy people should get vaccinated beacuse they can easily contract Covid, spread it & potentially serve as a vessel for the virus to mutate to be deadlier and resistant to existing vaccines. Come on @joerogan, be better,’ he tweeted.

User @downeast72 labeled Rogan irresponsible, tweeting: ‘Healthy 20 year old just died of covid where I live today. 13 year old yesterday. Incredibly irresponsible of you to encourage young people not to be vaccinated. It protects them, their loved ones and helps control the spread of covid.’

Healthy 20 year old just died of covid where I live today. 13 year old yesterday. Incredibly irresponsible of you to encourage young people not to be vaccinated. It’s protects them, their loved ones and helps control the spread of covid.

Brandon Farmahini, tweeted that Rogan’s take was ‘very cringy’. ‘Young healthy people should get vaccinated beacuse they can easily contract Covid, spread it & potentially serve as a vessel for the virus to mutate to be deadlier and resistant to existing vaccines. Come on @joerogan, be better,’ he tweeted

The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are currently only authorized to be given to people over 18, while anyone over 16 is eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.

Clinical trials are still being carried out to assess the effects of the vaccine on children under 18. A key aspect being studied in the trials is whether the vaccine prevents transmission among young people.

Speaking on the podcast, Rogan said his daughters – Lola, 12, and Rosa 11 – had COVID and ‘it was nothing’.

‘I mean, I hate to say that if someone’s children died from this. I’m very sorry that that happened. I’m not in any way diminishing that. But I’m saying the personal experience that my children had with COVID was nothing.’

Rogan’s guest, the comedian Dave Smith responds: ‘Yeah, I’m not injecting my daughter with something to f***ing virtue signal.’

The CDC says children and adolescents are less likely to get extremely ill or die from COVID-19, but it’s not impossible – and they can still spread the virus to others, including older people.

Comedian Dave Smith, a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, said ‘I’m not injecting my daughter with something to f***ing virtue signal’

In 2020, Rogan signed an exclusive content deal with Spotify for $100m.

His podcasts, previously mainstays at the top of the Apple podcast charts, have disappeared from the platform, but he is now easily the most popular podcast host on Spotify.

Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.

In a previous statement when Rogan has drawn controversy before, the company has said it was important to have ‘diverse voices’ on its platform.

Rogan cultivated an enormous following for his longform, free-flowing interview style on The Joe Rogan Experience, with episodes often lasting more than three hours.

He’s smoked marijuana with Elon Musk on-air, discussed the origins of the universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and welcomed all manner of scientists, philosophers, sporting greats such as Mike Tyson and politicians like Bernie Sanders.

He’s also courted controversy for hosting Infowars host Alex Jones, who was allowed to promote COVID-19 conspiracy theories unchecked when he appeared last October.

After Jones’ appearance, Spotify defended Rogan, with one executive saying in a leaked internal email: ‘we are not going to ban specific individuals from being guests on other people’s shows’.

Rogan is also a stand-up comedian, former Fear Factor host and MMA commentator.

Meanwhile, according to the New York Times, 43% of the US population have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 29% are fully vaccinated.

It’s estimated for the country will reach herd immunity, 70-85% of the population needs to have been vaccinated

A CBS News poll released this week found about 40% of Americans remain hesitant about getting the shot.

When asked if they’d get the jab, 18% said ‘maybe’ and 22% were an outright ‘no’.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden hailed the US’s ‘stunning progress’ on Covid but warned it was not the time to let up.

The White House has pledged every American adult will be available for a vaccine by May 1.

NEARLY 8% OF PEOPLE IN US HAVE SKIPPED THEIR SECOND DOSE

More than five million people who have received their first COVID-19 shot have skipped out on their second dose.

According to the New York Times, that estimate represents nearly eight per cent of the American population who received the first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Some people have opted out of the second dose because they believe they’re sufficiently protected with a single shot. Others are fearful of the flulike side effects.

But the fault isn’t just on the millions who haven’t received their second dose. Vaccine providers have been forced to cancel second-dose appointments because they ran out of supply.

In one example, several Walgreens customers were unable to get their second because they didn’t have the right vaccine on hand, according to the Times.

‘I’m very worried, because you need that second dose,’ Dr Paul Offit, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told the newspaper.

Some states are also finding that people aren’t interested in getting the shots and are having to turn down vaccine deliveries. Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine.

About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mississippi, officials asked the federal government to ship vials in smaller packages so they don’t go to waste.

As the supply of coronavirus vaccine doses in the US outpaces demand, some places around the country are finding there’s such little interest in the shots, they need to turn down shipments.

‘It is kind of stalling. Some people just don’t want it,’ said Stacey Hileman, a nurse with the health department in rural Kansas’ Decatur County, where less than a third of the county’s 2,900 residents have received at least one vaccine dose.

The dwindling demand for vaccines illustrates the challenge that the US faces in trying to conquer the pandemic while at the same time dealing with the optics of tens of thousands of doses sitting on shelves when countries like India and Brazil are in the midst of full-blown medical emergencies.

More than half of American adults have received at least one vaccine dose, and President Joe Biden last week celebrated eclipsing 200 million doses administered in his first 100 days in office. He also acknowledged entering a new phase to bolster outreach and overcome hesitancy.

Across the country, pharmacists and public health officials are seeing the demand wane and supplies build up. About half of Iowa’s counties have stopped asking for new doses from the state, and Louisiana didn’t seek shipment of some vaccine doses over the past week.

Some are urging federal officials to send more vaccine to places where there’s demand — rather than allocate them based on population — including Massachusetts Republican Gov Charlie Baker, who said on Thursday they could administer two to three times more doses per day if they had more supply.

source: dailymail.co.uk