Yes, Bill Gates’ children are vaccinated

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has been a vocal proponent of COVID-19 vaccines, among other inoculations. But a recent Instagram post claims that his own daughters aren’t even vaccinated. 

"PHOEBE ADELE GATES: the 20 years old daughter of Bill Gates VACCINATION STATUS: NOT VACCINATE NOT EVEN CHILDHOOD VACCINES," the Oct. 31 Instagram post said, with spelling and grammatical errors. "Jennifer Katharine Gates the eldest daughter of Bill Gates. She is currently a second-year medical student at Icahn School of Medicine in New York. Vaccination status: NOT VACCINATED even CHILDHOOD VACCINES."

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

We’ve fact-checked a similar allegation before. In 2018, we rated a claim that Gates "refused to vaccinate his children" Pants on Fire! At the time, the children of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates were 15, 18 and 22 years old. 

In February of that year, Melinda French Gates said in an Instagram post: "When my first child, Jenn, was born, over 800,000 children were dying each year of rotavirus — a preventable, curable disease. It broke my heart to imagine watching your child get sick and knowing that medicine could save her — if only you had access to it. That was a clarifying moment for me. No child should die a preventable death. Bill and I have dedicated our lives to reducing the number who do."

In April 2019, she posted on Facebook that "all three of my children are fully vaccinated." 

And in 2021, Jennifer Gates posted on Instagram about getting her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Facebook posts

stated on January 22, 2020 in a Facebook post

Says a coronavirus patent expired just as there is a "sudden outbreak" and, despite "media fear-mongering," there is already a vaccine available.

"Sadly the vaccine did NOT implant my genius father into my brain — if only mRNA had that power," she wrote with a winking emoji, poking fun at conspiracy theories about the vaccine. 

CNN reported at the time that the post, which is no longer online, showed "the 24-year-old medical student wearing a mask and holding up an ‘I got my COVID-19 vaccine’ sticker." 

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told PolitiFact in an email that the Gates are "all vaccinated." 

We rate claims that Phoebe and Jennifer Gates aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 or childhood diseases Pants on Fire!