An article shared on Facebook claims Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates admitted during an interview that a COVID-19 vaccine “might kill nearly 1,000,000 people.”

Facebook/Screenshot

Verdict: False

Gates made a comment about how many people could theoretically experience side effects from a COVID-19 vaccine. At no point did he suggest a COVID-19 vaccine might kill nearly 1 million people.

Fact Check:

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which, among other things, promotes access to vaccinations around the world, has committed $300 million to help fund the development of coronavirus detection, treatments and vaccines.

Such efforts appear to have made Gates a popular target for misinformation during the coronavirus pandemic, with this particular article claiming, “WATCH: Bill Gates Admits His COVID-19 Vaccine Might KILL Nearly 1,000,000 People.”

The article, which was filed under the “conspiracy” section of the Clover Chronicle website, links to an interview Gates did with CNBC in early April about the work he and his foundation are doing to fight the pandemic. During the interview, he discusses the difficulties of quickly developing a COVID-19 vaccine that will be effective for the elderly in the context of side effects.

“Here, we clearly need a vaccine that works in the upper age range because they’re most at risk of that. And doing that so that you amp it up so it works in older people, and yet you don’t have side effects,” Gates said. “If we have one in 10,000 side effects, that’s way more — 700,000 people who will suffer from that.”

He added that “understanding the safety at gigantic scales across all age ranges — pregnant, male, female, undernourished, existing comorbidities — it’s very, very hard,” according to the CNBC video. (RELATED: Has Bill Gates ‘Refused To Vaccinate His Children’?)

At no point in the segment linked in the article or the rest of the interview does Gates suggest the vaccine might kill nearly 1 million people. The Daily Caller News Foundation found no evidence Gates has suggested such a thing elsewhere.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation did not respond to a request for comment.

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