Bill and Mélinda Gates, February 1, 2018 during an interview with the Associated Press in the United States. - Ted S. Warren / AP / SIPA

Edit: We are putting forward this article, originally published on February 17, 2018, because this assertion was again shared during the Covid-19 epidemic. 

In an article published on February 13, 2018, the Initiatives Citoyennes website states that Bill Gates, the second richest man on the planet, has chosen not to vaccinate his children. The information is based on the testimony of "a doctor who served as Bill Gates' private doctor in Seattle in the 1990s". "I don't know if these were vaccinated in adulthood, but I can tell you that he refused to vaccinate them when they were children," said this doctor, "during a medical symposium in camera. closed in Seattle, "adding that" 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 ".

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On the doctor, the article says no more than this vague description: no name, address, or date, which could allow us to verify the veracity of this testimony. It must be said that the information comes from the American site "YourNewsWire", reputed to disseminate false information. In the general conditions of the site, accessible online, the host even indicates that the veracity of the information is not guaranteed.

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>> Read also: VIDEO. Epidemic: "To eliminate measles, at least 95% of the population must be protected"

If this information on the alleged doctor of Bill Gates is not based on anything solid, it is possible that the billionaire chose to delay the vaccination of his three children: Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe. It is even a widespread practice among the children of Hollywood stars, as mentioned in an article by Slate in 2014. "In cities like Malibu, Hollywood, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, the percentage of parents who refuse to get immunized their kids in kindergarten is 9% on average, up from 2.2% in the whole of Los Angeles County, ”the article said.

Vaccinate your children later

On the Citizen Initiatives site, the source of the article on Bill Gates' doctor, the author writes: “Studies prove that the elite do not vaccinate their children. But at the same time, they expect the masses to vaccinate their people. ” It's actually a little more complicated than that.

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>> Read also: Five questions to learn all about the eleven compulsory vaccines since January 1

This non-vaccination of children has its source in the medicine of pediatrician Robert Sears: he recommends vaccinating children later and less often than what is recommended by the government. Parents' beliefs also play a role: few still believe that vaccines can cause autism in their children, but their anxiety is about the onset of allergies, asthma or eczema. This "tradition" is not without danger and has led to an increase in pertussis cases in Los Angeles County, the article recalls.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partners with States, organizations and even private actors to vaccinate millions of children every year. Their goal is to have vaccinated the entire world population by 2020, at the end of the "Decade of Vaccination".

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