The second richest person in the world, American billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has come under criticism in Africa. He is being accused of pushing for Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials to be performed in Africa.
Bill Gates’ position on covid-19 vaccine
Gates is advocating for the invention through vaccines. He says the world will never get back to normality if people are not vaccinated. He suggested that schools and workplaces and other crowded areas pose a risk such that the only way to resume is through finding a vaccine for Covid-19.
Bill’s track record on safety of vaccines
Bill Gates has been involved in a lot of health related philanthropy work in Africa through the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. His interventions also include health emergencies such as Ebola and Malaria where there isn’t much time to properly test vaccines for side effects. He can be given a benefit of doubt in health emergencies. However, in 2017, Gates is on record saying he met Donald Trump and they talked about vaccines’ side effects. (See video below) He said he advised Trump ‘that’s a dead end’ and told him not to look into that. We cannot conclude if Gates’ advice to Trump was for good or bad intentions.
How activists and African leadership responded
So far the reactions in Africa has only been from the general populace. African leaders haven’t responded to the claims that Bill Gates intend to perform covid-19 clinical trials in Africa.
Some activists and celebs such as Ntsiki Mazwai have also voiced their concerns, asking if Gates is a medical doctor. US based comedian Trevor Noah has been accused of fronting Gates’ agenda to force Africans to be vaccinated.
Is Bill Gates being wrongfully accused?
The evidence is inconclusive on whether Bill Gates ever mentioned performing covid-19 clinical trials in Africa. All the video clips that are circulating are about vaccines and not clinical trials.
Bill Gates link with French doctors
Bill Gates is not linked to two French doctors who suggested that clinical trials be done in Africa as there are no protective clothing and ICUs to fight covid-19. Find the article here. The TV broadcast attracted outrage from prominent sports personalities of African descent such as former Barcelona player Samuel Eto’o and former Chelsea forward Didier Drogba.
Can harmful vaccines be forced on people?
It is highly unlikely that harmful vaccines be forced on people as there are organisations which first test them before they are used on people. Given a short time frame, it is possible that a vaccine can be fast tracked to be used on people, but all these are good intentions given the severity of Covid-19.
Fake news
Some prominent publications such as News24 have written fake news about Bill Gates’s involvement in Covid-19 clinical trials in Africa. News 24 lied that Bill Gates was pushing for covid-19 clinical trials to be performed in Africa. Find News 24’s apology here. Other fake news websites are also taking advantage of the misinformation and the fear that has been brought by Covid-19.
A claim that Bill Gates doesn’t vaccinate his children
The claim that Bill Gates doesn’t vaccinate his children is a hoax. We performed a fact check and it turned out to be false. Check here