Rogan made the comments on his Spotify podcast, which is currently the platform’s most listened to podcast in America.
Hugely popular podcaster Joe Rogan has been criticised for encouraging healthy young people not to get the Covid-19 vaccine in a recent episode of his show The Joe Rogan Experience.
Released on 23 April and featuring Rogan in conversation with comedian Dave Smith, the podcaster said in the episode that while he believes those vulnerable to Covid-19 should be vaccinated and that, “for the most part”, it’s safe to get vaccinated, he doesn’t think younger people should be inoculated.
He said: “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?
“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.”
While acknowledging that children have died from Covid-19, Rogan said that both his children had gotten the virus and that it was “no big deal”, “very mild” and “akin to them getting a cold”.
He later added: “We’re talking about something that is not statistically dangerous for children. But yet people still want you to get your child vaccinated, which is crazy to me.”
The comments have proved controversial, with watchdog group Media Matters highlighting that 296 children have died of Covid-19 in the US as of 22 April and that it’s estimated that 70% to 90% of people may need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
In a statement, the group accused Rogan of “frequently” using his podcast “to spread conspiracy theories” and “espouse dangerous Covid-19 misinformation”.
According to The Verge, a source close to the situation says that Spotify reviewed the episode but left it live because Rogan doesn’t come off as outwardly anti-vaccine.
You can listen to Rogan’s comments below.
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