Bill Gates was one of the earliest prominent figures to sound the alarm bells about the possibility of a pandemic. A large portion of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's mission and resources have been devoted to spreading awareness about infectious disease and finding ways of preventing an outbreak. Here's Gates in a 2015 TED talk warning us to take action:
Basically, he's about the last person anyone with a functioning brain would blame for the mess we're currently in.
Well, anyone with a logically functioning brain, we'd like to introduce you to the Internet. In one of the most bizarre cases of "shooting the messenger" we've ever seen, Gates posted a thank you message to healthcare workers on Instagram and was met with a wave of hate and insinuations that he somehow created the novel coronavirus. These comments were then liked by tens of thousands of people. Here it is below:
Then there are claims like within this Facebook post that Bill Gates stands to profit off a coronavirus vaccine. But the patent referenced is actually for a different coronavirus, one which primarily affects chickens. It's also paint-sniffingly-stupid to think that one of the most philanthropic men on Earth would somehow invent a virus to subsequently create a vaccine to make money, when in reality, there's way more money to be had in making boner pills or if he just released a new Xbox. Oh, he's doing that? Hmm ... well, then maybe they're on to something.
Dan has a podcast about The Bachelor, but it's like if it were sports. Check that out if you want.
Top Image: Kjetil Ree/Wiki Commons