Top White House officials criticized podcast host Joe Rogan on Wednesday after he told his younger listeners that they should not get the coronavirus vaccine, Politico reported.
Rogan made the remarks on "The Joe Rogan Experience" on Spotify last Friday, saying that "If you're like 21 years old and you say to me, 'Should I get vaccinated?' I'll go, 'No,'" adding, that "If you're a healthy person and you're exercising all the time and you're young and you're eating well, I don't think you need to worry about this."
The comments came as the Biden administration is trying to convince those hesitant to get the vaccine, particularly conservative men and younger Americans, to do so as the vaccine supply in the United States begins to outpace demand.
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield responded to Rogan's remarks by telling CNN, "I guess my first question would be, did Joe Rogan become a medical doctor while we weren't looking?" adding that, "I'm not sure that taking scientific and medical advice from Joe Rogan is perhaps the most productive way for people to get their information."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, explained to NBC's "Today" show the importance of healthy youth also getting vaccinated, saying that "it is likely that you — even if you have no symptoms — that you may inadvertently and innocently then infect someone else, who might infect someone who really could have a problem with a severe outcome."
Biden announced last week that his administration's goal of 200 million coronavirus vaccinations in his first 100 days in office had been achieved and that the nation was now entering "a new phase" of its vaccine campaign as shots become available across the U.S. to adults 16 and older, Politico reported.