The Claim:
In an interview between Joe Rogan and Mark Zuckerberg, Rogan claimed that the government pushed to censor posts about vaccine side effects, ignored alternative ways to stay healthy, and overreacted to COVID since most people survived it.
The Facts:
This interview has many implications about vaccines and their safety, though regardless of how Zuckerberg feels about censorship or how agencies communicate with META, science on vaccines has been communicated through clinical trials and research.
Health experts have been clear about vaccine side effects, which are usually mild and temporary. For example, many people report experiencing soreness at the injection site, fatigue, or mild fever—similar to side effects from other vaccines like the flu shot. Real-world data from COVID vaccinations show that severe side effects are a rare outcome.
In the United States, where over 250 million people received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, hospitalization rates dropped dramatically, especially for high-risk groups like the elderly, who saw a decline in COVID-related deaths by over 80% after vaccination campaigns.
COVID has caused over 7 million deaths globally, leaving many survivors with long COVID, which includes debilitating symptoms like fatigue and brain fog. In the U.S., data shows that unvaccinated people account for more in-hospital complications, more serious disease, and more death than their vaccinated peers.