Sarah Bennett
Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates have spent billions of dollars on researching, developing, and delivering vaccines to children across the world. However, a story posted on Facebook in January 2019 claimed that the couple refused to vaccinate their own children. The article published on Transcend.org quoted an unnamed doctor who claimed that Gates had declined to vaccinate his children because they were OK as it was and didn't need the least vaccine. The story was rated pants on fire by Politifact, which pointed out that the Gates family has spent US$15.3 billion on vaccines over the past 18 years. In their 2018 annual letter, Bill and Melinda Gates described this as a terrific investment.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the claim | Bill Gates refused to vaccinate his children |
| Source of the claim | A Facebook post published in January 2019 |
| Number of shares of the post | 23,200 times |
| Name of the website where the post was published | Transcend.org |
| Name of the person who made the claim | Bill Gates' former doctor |
| Name of the event where the claim was made | A medical symposium in Seattle |
| Name of Bill Gates' children | Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe |
| The amount spent by the Gates family on vaccines over the past 18 years | US$15.3 billion |
| Melinda Gates' reason for promoting vaccination | In 2018, she shared on Instagram that when her first child, Jenn, was born, over 800,000 children were dying each year of rotavirus, a preventable, curable disease |
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What You'll Learn
- Bill Gates' former doctor claimed he refused to vaccinate his children
- The doctor's name was not given and the symposium took place behind closed doors
- The Gates family has spent billions on vaccines and their prevention
- Melinda Gates has spoken about her reasons for promoting vaccination
- The claim was rated pants on fire by Politifact
Bill Gates' former doctor claimed he refused to vaccinate his children
In January 2019, a story was posted on Facebook claiming that Bill Gates refused to vaccinate his children. The article, published by Transcend.org, has been shared over 23,200 times. The headline reads: "Bill Gates' Former Doctor Says Billionaire 'Refused to Vaccinate His Children'".
The article claims that during a medical symposium in Seattle, Gates' former private doctor revealed that Gates had declined to vaccinate his children because they were "OK as [they] were" and "didn't need the least vaccine". The doctor is quoted as saying, "I don't know if he had them vaccinated as adults, but I can tell you he point-blank refused to vaccinate them as children". The symposium took place behind closed doors, and the doctor's name is not given. No other evidence is provided to support the claim.
Fact-checking programmes have since debunked the article, rating the claim "pants on fire". It is important to note that the Gates family has spent billions of dollars on researching, developing, and delivering vaccines to children across the world. In their 2018 annual letter, Bill and Melinda Gates described this as a "terrific investment". Melinda Gates has also shared her own reasons for promoting vaccination, citing the example of rotavirus, a preventable and curable disease that was causing the deaths of over 800,000 children annually.
While the specific claim about Bill Gates' refusal to vaccinate his children has been discredited, it is worth noting that vaccine hesitancy and delay are not uncommon, even among the wealthy and prominent. For example, in 2014, an article in Slate mentioned that Hollywood stars often delay vaccinating their children, and a separate article cited the practice of delaying or reducing vaccinations as recommended by pediatrician Robert Sears.
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The doctor's name was not given and the symposium took place behind closed doors
In 2019, a story was posted on Facebook claiming that Bill Gates refused to vaccinate his children. The article, published by Transcend.org, was shared over 23,200 times. The headline of the article quoted an unnamed doctor, who was described as Bill Gates' former private doctor. The doctor claimed that Gates declined to vaccinate his children because they were "OK as [they] were" and "didn't need the least vaccine". The article stated that this revelation was made during a medical symposium in Seattle that took place behind closed doors.
The doctor's name was not given in the article, and no other evidence was provided to support the claim. The article was fact-checked by Politifact, which rated the claim as "pants on fire". It is important to note that the Gates family has spent billions of dollars on vaccine research and development, and Melinda Gates has publicly advocated for vaccination, sharing her reasons in a 2018 Instagram post.
The fact-checking website Africa Check also addressed the hoax claim. They disclosed that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of their funders, providing 18% of their income in 2018. This transparency helps readers understand the potential biases or conflicts of interest involved.
While the doctor's name and the closed-door setting of the symposium may raise questions, it is essential to consider the lack of supporting evidence and the fact that the claim has been widely discredited. The Gates family's significant investments in vaccine development and their public support for vaccination initiatives contradict the idea that they refused to vaccinate their children.
Additionally, the source of the information, YourNewsWire, has a reputation for disseminating false information. The lack of verifiable details about the doctor and the absence of corroborating evidence further weaken the credibility of the claim.
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The Gates family has spent billions on vaccines and their prevention
The Gates family has spent billions of dollars on researching, developing, and delivering vaccines to children across the world. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest philanthropies in the world. The foundation draws on a $70 billion endowment to grant billions of dollars every year to organizations working on some of the world's toughest health problems.
Bill Gates has pledged to give most of his fortune to the foundation, and the organization plans to increase its spending from $6 billion annually to about $9 billion by 2026. The Gates Foundation helped create Gavi and CEPI, with representatives on both their boards. Gavi was founded in 1999 with $750 million from the Gates Foundation to negotiate vaccine deals with pharmaceutical companies for low-income countries. Gavi and CEPI have spent almost $10 billion on COVID-19 since 2020.
The Gates Foundation has also granted more than $402 million to various organizations to fight COVID-19. Together with Gavi, the Gates Foundation signed a deal for 100 million vaccine doses from the Serum Institute, bringing the total to 200 million. The foundation contributed $300 million to provide doses for India and other low- and middle-income countries.
The Gates Foundation has also been involved in lobbying for the global COVID-19 response. Gavi spent between €25,000 and €49,999 on direct lobbying in Europe in 2020, holding meetings with commission officials about COVAX and the EU's vaccine-sharing plan. In the US, CEPI and Gavi spent tens of thousands of dollars to lobby members of Congress for additional funding for the global response.
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Melinda Gates has spoken about her reasons for promoting vaccination
Melinda Gates has been vocal about her reasons for promoting vaccination. In a 2018 Instagram post, Melinda shared her thoughts on the topic: "When my first child, Jenn, was born, over 800,000 children were dying each year of rotavirus – a preventable, curable disease," she wrote. "It broke my heart to imagine watching your child get sick and knowing that medicine could save her – if only you had access to it. That was a clarifying moment for me. No child should die a preventable death. Bill and I have dedicated our lives to reducing the number who do."
Melinda Gates is an American software developer and philanthropist who co-founded the Gates Foundation (formerly known as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). The foundation is a prominent grant-making organization known for its support of left-of-center causes. One of its primary focuses is the prevention and treatment of diseases, with a strong emphasis on vaccine research and development. Melinda Gates has played an instrumental role in overseeing these initiatives, demonstrating her commitment to improving global health outcomes.
The Gates family has invested significantly in vaccine development and distribution, spending over US$15.3 billion on vaccines over an 18-year period. In their 2018 annual letter, both Bill and Melinda Gates described this investment as "terrific," underscoring their shared belief in the importance of vaccination. The Gates Foundation has directed its resources toward various aspects of vaccination, including research, clinical trials, manufacturing, distribution, and data collection.
Melinda Gates' advocacy for vaccination extends beyond her work with the foundation. In 2021, following her divorce from Bill Gates, her personal grant-making organization, Pivotal Ventures, reaffirmed its dedication to promoting progressive policies related to women's issues. While the specific details of these initiatives are not publicly available, they reflect Melinda's continued commitment to creating positive societal change.
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The claim was rated pants on fire by Politifact
In 2019, a story published on Facebook by Transcend.org went viral, claiming that Bill Gates refused to vaccinate his children. The article cited an anonymous former doctor of Gates who revealed this information during a medical symposium in Seattle. The doctor was quoted as saying, "I don't know if he had them vaccinated as adults, but I can tell you he point-blank refused to vaccinate them as children. [...] They were beautiful children, very intelligent and lively, and he said that it was good like that, and that they did not need the least vaccine."
However, this claim was rated "pants on fire" by Politifact, indicating that it is a blatant lie with no basis in fact. There are several reasons to doubt the veracity of the story. Firstly, the doctor's name was not provided, and there is a lack of specific details about the symposium, making it difficult to verify the claim. Secondly, the article was published on a website known for disseminating false information.
More importantly, the claim contradicts the well-documented efforts of Bill and Melinda Gates to promote vaccination globally. Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the couple has invested billions of dollars in researching, developing, and delivering vaccines to children worldwide. Their goal is to prevent millions of deaths, disabilities, and illnesses by improving access to vaccines. In their 2018 annual letter, they described their investment in vaccines as a "terrific investment." Melinda Gates has also shared personal reasons for her strong support for vaccination. In a 2018 Instagram post, she wrote about the heartbreak of knowing that a preventable, curable disease like rotavirus was taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of children each year.
Given the Gates family's significant financial and advocacy efforts in vaccine development and distribution, it is highly unlikely that Bill Gates would refuse to vaccinate his own children. The claim made in the Transcend.org article appears to be a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation and discredit the Gates family's philanthropic work in global health.
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Frequently asked questions
No. This is a hoax claim that was posted on Facebook in January 2019. The article quoted an unnamed doctor who claimed that Gates refused to vaccinate his children because they were "OK as it was" and "didn't need the least vaccine". However, no evidence was provided to support this claim, and the Gates family has spent billions of dollars on vaccine research and development.
Politifact's check of the claim rated it "pants on fire", indicating that it was false. The fact-checking programme also pointed out the Gates family's significant financial investment in vaccines over the years.
The claim originated from an article published on the Initiatives Citoyennes website, which cited an unnamed doctor who allegedly served as Bill Gates' private doctor in Seattle in the 1990s. The article mentioned that Gates' children were "beautiful, very intelligent and lively", and that he believed they didn't need any vaccines. However, no further evidence was provided, and the website YourNewsWire, which was the source of the information, is known for disseminating false information.
