Joe Rogan Experience #2534 - Annie Jacobsen · Aired Jul 31, 2026
Claim summary · not a verbatim quotation
Public health officials intentionally misled the public about the danger of COVID-19 to children.
The finding
What the evidence shows
Officials did say children faced much lower risk, and a CDC-based study found the fatality rate for children ages 1 to 14 was about 0.01% in 2020. But the same study found children did die from COVID-19, including infants with lab-confirmed infection, so saying the virus 'wasn't dangerous for kids' overstates the evidence. Whether officials knowingly misled the public is an intent question the sources cannot settle. Falsifier: a CDC count showing no children died of COVID-19 in the study period would push this toward the speaker's version.
Read the supporting source · wwwnc.cdc.gov ↗Quick answer & review status
Quick answer
Is it true that Public health officials intentionally misled the public about the danger of COVID-19 to children?
Partly. The claim stretches what the evidence shows. 01% in 2020. But the same study found children did die from COVID-19, including infants with lab-confirmed infection, so saying the virus 'wasn't dangerous for kids' overstates the evidence. Joe Rogan said it (matched by voice) on Joe Rogan Experience #2534 - Annie Jacobsen, aired Jul 31, 2026, at 1:37:14. The supporting source is wwwnc.cdc.gov, linked below.
The context belongs here.
No separately verified on-air correction is recorded for this check. That is not a claim that nobody corrected it.
- Attribution
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- Editorial context review
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- Coverage
- One selected claim from the episode
Revisions to this check
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