Bill Gates will give $300 million on the efforts to push back the spread of the novel coronavirus and develop a vaccine to fight off the pandemic but his charitable initiative did not stop the cooking up of wild speculations. The donation is said to be Gates' way of implanting microchips in people so he can monitor them more efficiently.
The allegations said that once the COVID-19 vaccine is ready, the cure that the Microsoft co-founder paid for will be laced with the monitoring device. Minus the support of solid evidence, these talks are usually dismissed as mere conspiracy theories and Gates himself branded them as "stupid."
According to Business Insider, the billionaire philanthropist will not even attempt to deny the circulating stories that he could only characterize as "so stupid."
But while these conspiracy theories may sound incredulous to many, it seemed worrisome that a significant number of Americans subscribed to the unfounded ideas being peddled around in social media sites and regular media channels.
Per the same report, 28% of Americans are convinced that the Gates stories on COVID-19 are true, citing the survey conducted by Yahoo News and YouGov. The poll said these believers have admitted to being either Republicans or avid watchers of Fox News. And interestingly, the respondents are supporters of President Donald Trump.
The data, according to Gates, is "a little bit concerning," though he is buoyed by the fact that Americans tuned in on MSNBC, for instance, brushed the theories off as false. On this, the numbers are considerably higher or 61% of those polled.
Regardless of the data that indicates conspiracy theories on coronavirus enjoy some form of traction, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is focused on going ahead to produce a vaccine the soonest. Gates said his preference is for the cure, when it becomes available, to be delivered first to countries where the healthcare system is plagued by weak infrastructure.
This thrust, he pledged, will be further supported by his foundation, which has committed $1.6 billion so that children in low-income countries will be immunized over the next five years.
CNET said Gates was likely targeted by the conspiracy theories due to his work that aims to vaccinate as many people as possible around the world. Also, the billionaire did not back down in his criticisms of the Trump White House, which he accused of responding late to the COVID-19 spread that likely led to the United States getting more than a million virus infection and over 100,000 deaths, which is the highest in the world.
In any case, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have indicated that they doing their part to stem the spread of false information amid the global pandemic. The report added that these sites are either offering validated information to counter the conspiracy theories or pulling down contents deemed as harmful to users.
