Elon Musk Say He Won’t Get Vaccinated for COVID-19: ‘Everybody Dies’

Elon Musk appeared on the New York Times podcast, Sway, hosted by Kara Swisher and shared his thoughts on a COVID-19 vaccine, revealing that neither he nor his family would be taking any vaccination whenever it is made available to the public. He provided reasoning by saying that he or his family is not at risk, so there would be no reason to inject whatever serum is determined to be best.

He also cited the low mortality rate for a reason not to get vaccinated. When questioned about his thoughts, Musk said, “Everybody dies.” The SpaceX founder also gave his thoughts on the handling of the pandemic, believing that a lockdown was not necessary. At-risk people should have quarantined, he said, and those who did not fall in that category would not need to follow that protocol. “It’s a no-win situation,” Musk continued. “It diminished my faith in humanity… the irrationality of people in general.” He said it’d been business as usual for him amid the pandemic and that everyone at SpaceX has been showing up for work. And for anyone who may be worried about bringing home the virus to their family, Musk said it’s quite simple, “stay home.” Musk also has expressed his disdain towards the stimulus checks that were a part of the first stimulus package.

In that 45-minute podcast, Musk, who welcomed a son named X AE A-XII with Grimes this year, also touched on the controversy with Bill Gates, in which the Microsoft founder dismissed Musk’s opinion on vaccinations. He referred to Gates as a “knucklehead,” adding that one of his companies makes the vaccine machines in which Gates invests.

As for when a vaccination can be expected to make way to the public, that remains to be seen. There seems to be a belief that President Donald Trump’s claims that one is on the way soon are exaggerated, and there likely won’t be one available until after the Nov. 3 election. Others believe it won’t be until 2021 that one is readily available.

As of Tuesday, the country has more than 7.21 million cases, with 206,000 deaths. Among the states seeing the highest number of cases over the past few days are California, Texas and New York, which has seen a rise in numbers after initially serving as the coronavirus hotspot.