John Oliver says Joe Rogan is a ‘f***ing moron’ for Covid vaccine comments

Podcast host and comedian Rogan had previously said healthy, young people needn’t bother getting jab

John Oliver has criticised Joe Rogan for his controversial comments about the coronavirus vaccine.

Podcast host and comedian Rogan had previously said young people who are healthy needn’t bother getting vaccinated against Covid.

“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,” he had said on his show.

After a backlash, he clarified his views, saying: “I am not an anti-vax person. In fact, I said I believe they are safe and I encourage many people to take them. I just said if you’re a young healthy person, you don’t need it. Their argument was you need it for other people ... And yes, that makes sense.”

Discussing vaccine hesitancy and Rogan’s comments, presenter Oliver said on his show Last Week Tonight: “If you’re thinking, ‘Yeah, I’m not sure I’ll need it. Joe Rogan says I’m probably fine.’ It is true: You might not get seriously sick from Covid – or indeed sick at all – but you could still inadvertently pass it to someone who could then die.

“And before you say, ‘Well, vulnerable people should just get vaccinated then,’ the vaccines are only 95 percent effective… so they’ll probably be OK, but maybe not. Also, the more the virus circulates, the likelier we’ll see mutations that make it more dangerous, possibly helping it to evade the vaccine completely, putting us all the way back to square one, so get the f***ing vaccine!”

He added: “Stop listening to what Joe Rogan tells you, he’s a ‘f***ing moron’ – and those are his words, not mine.”

Rogan had referred to himself using the insult when he clarified his comments about vaccines.

“I’m not a doctor, I’m a f***ing moron,” he said, “and I’m a cage-fighting commentator who’s a dirty stand-up comedian. I’m not a respected source of information, even for me.”