Analysis
A popular social media account repeated the myth that an “untested” polio vaccine funded by Bill Gates left over 490,000 children in India paralyzed. Although the post is about the oral polio vaccine, it includes a video about a different conspiracy theory claiming that an HPV vaccine injured thousands of girls in India.
Recommendations
The conspiracy theory that the Gates Foundation funded a vaccine that harmed many children has spread online for years. Debunking messaging may explain that the claim has been repeatedly disproven. Messaging may emphasize that polio vaccines eliminated polio in India, which has been free of all forms of polio since 2014. Communicators may explain that polio vaccines have been thoroughly tested and safely used worldwide for decades.