The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper chases down the 'wellness' anti-vaxxers of blue Southern California

published 9 December 2021

"The discussion around vaccines and mandates tends to pit red state versus blue, but I had heard there was vaccine hesitancy and misinformation in the elitist of the elite blue corners of the U.S.," Jordan Klepper narrated on Wednesday's Daily Show. "So I headed to a protest in sunny Southern California."

In Venice Beach and Santa Monica, the people resisting vaccines were not the MAGA folks and Q-Anon conspiracists Klepper normally interviews. They get their vaccine misinformation in yoga studios and "wellness" forums, Klepper said. And it "turns out ignoring the advice of the medical experts and sacrificing the health of the community at large can actually be quite profitable for the wellness business."

Instead of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, these blue-state anti-vaxxers — many of whom insist they are not anti-vaxxers — are putting their faith in anti-COVID meditations and breathing techniques. "Okay, maybe on the coffee enema, definite hard no on the COVID vaccine?" he clarified with one bearded man in a captain's hat. He did find one openly vaccinated local, but he was from New York.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.