Fauci: Joe Rogan’s COVID-19 comments ‘incorrect’

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, early Wednesday shot down recent comments from Joe Rogan after the popular podcast host suggested young, health Americans do not need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. 

Speaking to NBC’s “Today,” Fauci called Rogan’s comments “incorrect.” 

“You’re talking about yourself in a vacuum,” Fauci said of the podcast host. “You’re worried about yourself getting infected and the likelihood that you’re not going to get any symptoms. But you can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk.”

Fauci also said there are still cases of asymptomatic people infected with the coronavirus “inadvertently and innocently” spreading the virus. 

“So if you want to only worry about yourself and not society, then that’s OK,” Fauci said. “But if you’re saying to yourself, even if I get infected, I could do damage to somebody else even if I have no symptoms at all, and that’s the reason why you’ve got to be careful and get vaccinated.” 

When asked directly if young, healthy people should get vaccinated, Fauci replied: “Absolutely.” 

“You can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk.” -Dr. Anthony Fauci responding to podcast host Joe Rogan’s suggestion that young people not get the COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/6E02GI31VV

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 28, 2021

“Are you healthy?” Rogan said during a recent episode of his podcast. “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.”

Rogan also suggested that COVID-19 is not “statistically dangerous for children.”

“I can tell you as someone who has — both my children got the virus. It was nothing,” he continued. “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.”