Joe Rogan has Covid and used ‘unsafe’ horse de-wormer drug ivermectin in treatment

The host said he tested positive over the weekend after a work trip, but was feeling better

Joe Rogan, the widely popular comedian, MMA commentator and podcast host, tested positive for Covid-19 over the weekend and had to reschedule an upcoming tour date.

“I got back from the road Saturday night feeling very weary,” Mr Rogan, whose Joe Rogan Experience podcast reaches an estimated 11 million people, told followers in an Instagram video on Wednesday (1 September).

“I had a headache, and I just felt just run down. 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.”

In the video, the host also said among the drugs he used to treat his case was ivermectin, a livestock de-worming medicine that has become popular in conservative circles. The FDA has warned it is an ineffective and unsafe treatment for Covid, though it is used in humans for other ailments.

“We immediately threw the kitchen sink at it: all kinds of meds. Monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, Z-pack, prednisone – everything,” Mr Rogan said in the video, adding, “Crazy times we’re living in, but a wonderful, heartfelt thank you to modern medicine for pulling us out so quickly and easily.”

Rogan has not publicly said whether he is vaccinated, but he generated a storm of controversy in April when he told listeners he didn’t believe young, healthy people needed to get the vaccine.

He has since clarified his stance on vaccines generally, saying he supports them.

“I’m not an anti-vax person,” he explained on a later episode. “I believe they’re safe and encourage many people to take them.”

The Independent has reached out to Mr Rogan for comment, including his vaccination status.

The popular host has also called vaccine passports “one step closer” to dictatorship on the influential show, an eclectic and often bizarre program that sometimes features him promoting pseudo-scientific health supplements and interviewing right-wing conspiracy theorists like Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones.

“Many people spend more time listening to Rogan than they do to health professionals,” a group of doctors warned in an NBC News opinion piece, following the vaccine comments, adding, “Those with influential platforms have a responsibility to be a little more careful and realize the ripple effects of misguidance and a casual piece of misinformation.”