Billionaire Bill Gates on trial over Covid-19 vaccines safety

When Bill Gates, former Microsoft CEO and co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke as a jar of human feces sits on a podium at the Reinvented Toilet Expo in Beijing on Nov 6, 2018. [Getty Images] Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates is set to stand trial in the Netherlands for allegedly misleading the public about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines. In an epoch-making decision by a Dutch court on Wednesday, a ruling was made after seven plaintiffs claimed to have suffered adverse effects after being vaccinated during at the height of the pandemic. The complainants have sued the philanthropist, former Dutch Prime Minister and current NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, members of the Dutch government's Covid-19 Outbreak Management Team, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, and the Dutch state itself. According to a Dutch publication, last year, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit naming Gates as one of the "experts" who made several claims about the Covid-19 experimental vaccines. The complainants argued that Gates, through his involvement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Economic Forum (WEF), was involved in a far-reaching agenda known as "The Great Reset Project." The Great Reset initiative was an economic recovery plan drawn in June 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to its proponents and initiators, it was meant to facilitate rebuilding after the devastation occasioned by the pandemic in a way that prioritises sustainable development. In the lawsuit, the complainants claimed that the agenda of the initiative included pushing for the uptake of unsafe vaccines. Hence, they were deceived into taking the injections which have had devastating effects on them. In 2020, Gates warned that developing a COVID-19 vaccine is only half the battle through his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. "Several vaccines are in human trials, we aren't sure which vaccines will be the most effective yet, and each requires unique technology to make. That means nations need to invest in many different kinds of manufacturing facilities now, knowing that some will never be used. Otherwise, we'll waste months after the lab develops an immunisation, waiting for the right manufacturer to scale up", Gates said in his article in 2020. The complainants further claimed that Gates made false statements about the vaccines promising that they would stop the virus transmission, prevent the illness, and eliminate the need for protective gear. The court documents revealed that one of the seven plaintiffs had reportedly died since the initial filing, leaving six others. A nurse vaccinates a person with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in Nairobi on April 21, 2021. [File, Standard] Reports further indicate that Gates tried to stop the case but the court dismissed his attempts, citing jurisdiction issues as an American citizen. He has been ordered to pay the plaintiffs' legal fees of $1,518.44 (sh195, 878) within 14 days or face additional penalties. With a new hearing scheduled for November 27, 2024, questions persist regarding the safety of the vaccine which was supplied to millions worldwide. In May 2022, one of the vaccine recipients, Gates announced that he had tested positive for the virus despite having been vaccinated and boosted. "I've tested positive for COVID. I'm experiencing mild symptoms and am following the experts' advice by isolating until I'm healthy again," the Microsoft founder wrote on his X account. The vaccine was being administered in booster batches, following expert advice due to the emergence of new Covid-19 variants. In the wake of the global pandemic in 2020, several vaccines including AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTtech, Johnson and Johnson, and Sinopharm vaccines were dispatched to Kenya. Due to the vaccine shortage amid the virus surge, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board approved the emergency use of vaccines such as Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer by August 2021. The Pfizer vaccine became available since it was largely donated to Kenya by the American government. Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine (2024-2025 Formula), has not been approved or licensed by the Food and Drug Administration but has been authorised under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to prevent Covid-19. At some point during the pandemic, the Kenyan government pushed citizens to get vaccinated or risk losing access to government services. For instance, mRNA Covid-19 vaccines were administered in the upper arm muscle or upper thigh, depending on the age of the person. In the process of complying with government directives, a large number of people were turned out for vaccination, with some individuals experiencing severe side effects. Addressing the media in 2021, the then Health Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe, announced that at least 277 people had exhibited adverse effects from the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. When President William Ruto met with American business tycoon Bill Gates at State House Nairobi on November 6, 2022. [File, Standard] Kagwe added that the effects varied from headaches, fever, nausea, fatigue, and excessive sweating and would clear within two days. In another similar report, the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) then announced that 279 people had suffered from adverse effects after taking the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. After the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts have been made to strengthen preparedness for future outbreaks on the continent. In October 2023, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged a $40 million (Sh5.2 billion) investment to assist multiple African manufacturers in producing messenger RNA vaccines on the continent. The Messenger RNA vaccine technology gained prominence with the development of COVID-19 vaccines by companies like Pfizer and Moderna. "The idea is that many of the future vaccines, whether it's for local diseases in Africa like Rift Valley or for global diseases like TB, mRNA looks like a very promising approach. And so it allows us to bring in lots of African capabilities to work on these vaccines, and then this can be scaled up," explained Gates Quantoom Biosciences is to get $20 million to advance work on its mRNA manufacturing platform. The Senegal-based Institute Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) and Biovac in South Africa will get $5 million each, to buy the technology. The Gates Foundation will grant another US$10 million (Sh1.3 billion) to yet-to-be-named vaccine manufacturers in low and middle-income countries. This would not be the first time that the foundation has contributed towards the availability of vaccines in Africa. In the latest turn of events, it donated the polio vaccine which has also left citizens with some negative side effects. The Ministry of Health has since then disputed the unverified reports of adverse effects linked to the recent polio vaccination campaign. "The ministry has received reports of adverse effects arising from the polio vaccination campaign. We urge the public to refrain from spreading rumours until we release official information. Investigations are ongoing and we will issue a formal statement in due course," stated the ministry on X. William 'Bill' Henry Gates, together with his ex-wife, Melinda, have emerged as major players in philanthropy, with a special focus on food and vaccine production and nutrition. However, Bill has been facing accusations, including theories over his alleged thoughts to 'depopulate' Africa, through control of food chains and vaccines. In 2010, the Gates Foundation Trust invested about $23 million in Monsanto, a company that has since been taken over by German chemical company, Bayer. Monsanto has footprints in the production of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), whose planned introduction in Kenya has been met with mixed feelings. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is expected to open a regional office in Nairobi later this year, with a focus on healthcare, agriculture and ICT. However, the granting of special status to the foundation's expatriate officials, including privileges and immunity from possible prosecution has raised eyebrows amongst a section of political and human rights activists.

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