'Totally my fault...' - Lewis Hamilton denies he’s anti-vaccine following Instagram story backlash

Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton has been central to widespread criticism after the Englishman shared an anti-vaxxer video on photo-blogging platform Instagram, which has a staggering 18.3 million followers.However, Hamilton deleted the story soon and after deleting the post on his Instagram story, he wrote another message saying it was his fault that he didn’t read the caption attached to the video while adding he is not against vaccine and has immense respect for Gates.

Hamilton, who is a six-time Formula One chamoion, shared the video created by King Bach on his Instagram story twice but the stories have now disappeared from Hamilton’s Instagram where tech billionaire Bill Gates is being quizzed about the process of getting a vaccine to battle the dreaded coronavirus.

The caption that was attacked to the video, shared by Hamilton, read ‘I remember when I told my first lie’. However, that was the caption given by the original content maker and not by Hamilton.

Gates, who is the founder of Microsoft, now spends most of his time and energy to his global health foundation while backing the South Korean company SK Bioscience.

In the video, Gates was being quizzed about potential side-effects of a coronavirus vaccine and the multi-billionaire businessman is seen rubbishing the baseless suggestions that he is seeking to embed tracking chips into the vaccine.
Gates funder a whopping $3.6million to the company in May for the purpose of accelerating the development of a vaccine to combat COVID-19.

Earlier in a letter to South Korean president Moon Jae-In, Gates sounded confident that the company could churn out as many as 200 million vaccine kits by June 2021.

While many have supported vaccination, there are others who seem to oppose it. Hamilton’s decision to share the post, which look to have suggested that Gates was lying in the interview, has been slammed by the social media users.

In the video, Gates said: 'No, there is no connection between any of these vaccines and any tracking type thing,' he said. 'I have no idea where this came from.'

He continues: 'Dr Fauci (America's top infectious disease official) and I are the two most mentioned. Some of these are deeply ironic. Our foundation is about reducing death and bringing equity to health.

'The idea that we get accused of creating chips, or the virus - I think we need to get the truth out there, and explain our values, and why we are willing to put billions towards accelerating the progress.

'It's a little unclear to me, but I hope this will die down as people get the facts.'

However, after deleting the post on his Instagram story, Hamilton wrote another message as he said it was his fault that he didn’t read the caption attached to the video while adding he is not against vaccine and has immense respect for Gates.

“Hi guys, I've noticed some comments on my earlier post around the coronavirus vaccine, and want to clarify my thoughts on it, as I understand why they might have been misinterpreted.

“Firstly, I hadn't actually seen the comment attached so that is totally my fault and I have a lot of respect for the charity work Bill Gates does.

“I also want to be clear that I'm not against a vaccine and no doubt it will be important in the fight against coronavirus and I'm hopeful for its development to help save lives.”

However, Hamilton admits that he does have some concerns over the reported side effects, and how the project of releasing a vaccine will be funding.

His message continued: “However, after watching the video, I felt it showed that there is still a lot of uncertainty about the side effects most importantly and how it is going to be funded.

“I may not always get my posting right, I'm only human but I'm learning as we go. Sending you positivity.”

Hamilton has been one of the most active voices amid the worldwide calls for social justice and an end to racism.

Meanwhile, after opening three rounds of Formula One 2020 season, Hamilton leads the driver standings before heading into Great Britain at Silverstone.