Spotify podcast host Joe Rogan is claiming that healthy young people should not get the COVID-19 vaccine, contrary to the advice of health experts.
In a clip of his show “The Joe Rogan Experience” from April 23 that surfaced on Tuesday, Rogan said he believes vulnerable people should get the vaccine and that “for the most part” believes it is “safe” to get vaccinated.
“But if you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go no,” Rogan, who is not a medical expert, said. “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.”
Watch the video below:
Spotify’s Joe Rogan encourages "healthy" young people not to get a coronavirus vaccine. His show is Spotify's most popular podcast.
— Alex Paterson (@AlexPattyy) April 27, 2021
“If you're like 21 years old, and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I'll go no.” pic.twitter.com/5dX98xUaHS
Twitter added a warning that said his claim is “misleading” and linked to articles about why health officials recommend that most people get the vaccine.
Rogan continued to note that his children both contracted the virus, but he said “it was nothing” as he went on to say they did not experience severe symptoms.
“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,” he added.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 400 children have died of the virus as of April 22.
Rogan went on to claim that it is “crazy” that arguing that young people should not get the vaccine is “controversial.”
While younger people are generally considered to be at a lower risk for the virus, un-vaccinated young people reportedly helped fuel a recent rise in the number of new cases of the virus.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, is encouraging every American to get the vaccine to ensure “we’re going to be able to put Covid-19 behind us.”
As of Tuesday, more than 297 million vaccines have been distributed and over 232 doses have been administered. More than 96 million Americans have been fully vaccinated.