American billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has received COVID-19 vaccine.
Masked up with his sleeve up in a photo he shared on Twitter Friday morning, Gates said he received the shot this week and that he feels great.”One of the benefits of being 65 is that I’m eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. I got my first dose this week, and I feel great,” he wrote.“Thank you to all of the scientists, trial participants, regulators, and frontline healthcare workers who got us to this point.”
Gates thanked those who got us to this point — without thanking himself.
The billionaire philanthropist has been a leading advocate for a globally coordinated response to the pandemic since the early days of the crisis a year ago.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for COVID-19 initiatives, including vaccine development and distribution.
Gates, who warned about the possibility of such an outbreak years ago, spent much of 2020 speaking to anyone who would listen about the precautions people needed to take to stem the spread of the disease.
As development of vaccines proceeded at an unprecedented pace, disinformation around the treatments and Gates’ involvement also spread, fueled by social media conspiracy theorists seizing on heightened political polarization in the United States.
