Joe Rogan Wonders If People Should Get Vaxxed, Then Contract COVID by Hanging Out With a ‘Bunch of Dirty People’

In a somewhat tense and ultimately futile three-hour interview on the comedian's podcast, Dr. Sanjay Gupta attempted to sway Rogan to get vaccinated.

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Joe Rogan, a self-described “fucking moron,” had neurosurgeon and CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta on his Spotify-hosted podcast this week. As expected, the three-hour discussion included a great deal of back-and-forth about the COVID-19 vaccine, which—as a general reminder here—is indeed safe and effective.

At one point in the interview, which Gupta later described as featuring Rogan doing “mental gymnastics,” the comedian was asked if he wished he had been vaccinated due to “what you know now” following an infection of his own. 

“I got through COVID pretty quickly,” Rogan said. “My thought was I’m a healthy person, I exercise constantly, I’m always taking vitamins, I take care of myself. I felt like I was gonna be OK and that was true. It was correct. I’m happy I got through it. I don’t wish it upon anyone. It wasn’t fun but it wasn’t the worst cold I’ve ever had and I got over it fairly quickly, relatively speaking.”

Pushing back with a plea for a more disciplined nuance surrounding the conversation, Gupta strongly advised against this approach.

“It’s not a strategy to recommend that people get infected to get their immunity,” he said, to which Rogan responded by saying he was not recommending that “anybody get infected.” Instead, Rogan revisited past comments he’s made about vaccines by again making the “vulnerable” argument, this time specifically mentioning “older people” and “fat people.”

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However, around the 6:57 mark in the video above, Rogan did recommend infection, albeit as part of a proposed approach that inspired laughter from Gupta. While Gupta again stated it would be better to not get the virus at all, Rogan offered this:


“You know what I think you should do? I think you should get vaccinated and then get sick. This is why: Because then you got the vaccine [which] protects you from a bad infection and then you get COVID, so then you get the robust immunity that’s imparted from having the actual disease itself, which is far more complex and comprehensive than you’re getting from the vaccine that targets one specific protein, right? So that’s the move. Get vaccinated, let it wane, and hang around with a bunch of dirty people.”

Gupta joked that he “sees” Rogan’s recommendation and then raised a follow-up for Joe: Get a shot of the vaccine. Rogan, as expected, refused this advice. As pointed out in the same episode, per USA Today, Rogan almost got vaccinated in Las Vegas a few months back but missed his appointment due to scheduling reasons. It’s unclear why the process of simply making another appointment seems to have stalled.

Elsewhere, Rogan and Gupta went back and forth about ivermectin, which is an FDA-approved prescription medication used to treat infections caused by internal and/or external parasites. When used as prescribed, per the CDC, it is “generally safe and well tolerated.”

Amid the pandemic, however, the agency said there had been an increase in the use of “veterinary formulations” of ivermectin that are available to consumers over the counter. These formulations are not intended for use in human beings. Rogan took issue with the reporting surrounding his touting of ivermectin, stating that he had received it from a doctor and was not using a veterinary formulation.

Still not vaccinated? Don’t be like Joe. Get your shots here.

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