Joe Rogan’s stance on COVID-19 has never seemed to be one marked by an abundance of caution. The longtime UFC commentator and popular podcast host hasn’t necessarily been an opponent of vaccination, but has also been fairly consistent in making the case that he doesn’t believe vaccines are a necessary step to combating the spread of the pandemic, especially not among healthy people.
“No,” Rogan said when asked whether he would take the COVID-19 vaccine, back in January. “I mean I would if I felt like I needed it. I just feel like if you maintain your health—and I think for some people it’s important.”
And while he has balanced that stance with his admission that he’s “not a respected source of information,” even for himself, he’s still railed against vaccine requirements, comparing them to living under a dictatorship. He’s even gone so far as to offer refunds to fans who may have planned to attend his upcoming comedy show in New York, before the state tightened restrictions.
All of which is to say, in the time since making those statements, Rogan has contracted COVID-19. In a short video posted to his Instagram on Wednesday, September 1st, the former Fear Factor host announced that he would be delaying an upcoming Nashville comedy show due to the diagnosis. And that while he felt really under the weather for a day, he is now feeling “great” after going through a barrage of medical treatments including monoclonal antibody therapy and the controversial, non-FDA approved use of ivermectin.
“Hello friends. So, I got back from the road Saturday night, feeling very weary,” Rogan explained. “I had a headache, and I just felt just run down. And just to be cautious, I separated from my family, slept in a different part of the house. And throughout the night I got fevers and sweats. And I knew what was going on. So, I got up in the morning, got tested, and it turns out I got COVID.”
“So, we immediately threw the kitchen sink at it. All kinds of meds: monoclonal antibodies, Ivermectin, Z-Pak, Prednisone, everything. And I also got an NAD drip and a vitamin drip. And I did that three days in a row. And so, here we are on Wednesday, and I feel great. I really only had one bad day. Sunday sucked. But Monday was better, Tuesday felt better than Monday, and today I feel good. I actually feel pretty fucking good.
“That’s the good news,” he added. “The bad news is we have to move Friday; the Friday show in Nashville. It’s going to move to Sunday, October 24th. So that’ll be the new Nashville date. My apologies to everyone. Obviously there’s nothing that I could control. It is what it is, crazy times we’re living in. But, a wonderful, heartfelt thank you to modern medicine for pulling me out of this so quickly and easily. And my love to all of you. Thank you, bye.”
Thankfully, it does sound like Rogan is recovering and expects to be back to full health soon. Whether or not that’s changed his mind at all about the value of an ounce of prevention over a pound of cure or not remains to be seen.
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