Did the World Health Organization (WHO) call for military forces to "round up mRNA vaccine refusers during the bird flu pandemic," as an August 2024 article claimed? No, that's not true: In an emailed statement to Lead Stories, WHO said that the article making the claim presents "flagrantly false information" since WHO has no power to mobilize military troops. The site that published the article features a disclaimer that it takes no responsibility for the reliability or accuracy of their work.
The claim originated in an August 1, 2024, article published by The People's Voice with a title that read, "Bill Gates and WHO Call For Military To Round Up mRNA Vaccine Refusers During Bird Flu Pandemic" (archived here). It opened:
Bill Gates has joined forces with the World Health Organization in calling for vaccine refusers to be rounded up by the military and force-jabbed with mRNA during the next pandemic.
Gates and the WHO have ordered governments to lay the groundwork to mobilize the military because they claim that vaccine skepticism is "morally reprehensible" and vaccine refusal is an "act of aggression" that must be met with force.
Below is how the article appeared at the time of this publication:
(Source: The People's Voice screenshot taken Mon Aug 5 08:44:00 2024 UTC)
In an email to Lead Stories received on August 5, 2024, WHO said that such claims are "flagrantly false information." The agency wrote:
First, it must be stressed that these claims are both flagrant lies and dangerous pieces of disinformation. Cynical and harmful claims such as these on science and health are escalating and can impact decisions people make to protect and promote their health, and that of their families.
Second, WHO is a scientific and technical organization established and led by its 194 Member governments. WHO provides technical advice and support to these Member States. It is sovereign Member States who make decisions and take actions concerning health for their populations. It is a malicious falsehood and lie to claim that WHO has proposed any involvement of military as mentioned in these baseless allegations, nor does WHO have the ability to impose vaccinate mandates. These claims are simply not true.
In a public statement (archived here) posted to X on August 3, 2024, WHO's Director of Communications, Gabby Stern (archived here), called the claim "a lie, a dangerous one."
WHO does not retain powers to establish or mobilize a militia
WHO does not hold the power to mobilize military personnel for actions like those described in The People's Voice article, something made plain in preparations against future pandemics. The organization wrote to Lead Stories:
In the draft pandemic agreement text [archived here], Member States reaffirm 'the principle of sovereignty of States Parties in addressing public health matters' and that 'States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the general principles of international law, the sovereign right to legislate and to implement legislation in pursuance of their health policies.'
The same text goes further to say: 'Nothing in the WHO Pandemic Agreement shall be interpreted as providing the WHO Secretariat, including the WHO Director-General, any authority to direct, order, alter or otherwise prescribe the national and/or domestic laws, as appropriate, or policies of any Party, or to mandate or otherwise impose any requirements that Parties take specific actions, such as ban or accept travellers, impose vaccination mandates or therapeutic or diagnostic measures or implement lockdowns.'
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove (archived here), director of WHO Epidemic & Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, made the same point in a response to X on August 3, 2024 (archived here), writing:
I am working directly on H5N1 with incredible scientists from all around the world. Lies are spreading on social media. WHO has no power to detain anyone. Claims that WHO is working with governments to do this are false and dangerous.
H5N1 mRNA vaccine development does not establish any ability to mobilize militia
The People's Voice article linked to a July 29, 2024, piece published by the medical news online aggregator, Medical Xpress, (archived here) that described a WHO initiative to push mRNA bird flu vaccine development, suggesting that mRNA bird flu vaccines are a decoy to mobilize people who refuse to be vaccinated. This isn't true.
The program aims to "accelerate the development and accessibility of human avian influenza (H5N1) messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine candidates for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries," described a WHO announcement published on July 29, 2024 (archived here).
Global leaders like the Association of American Medical Colleges (archived here) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (archived here) consider avian influenza viruses like H5N1 to be a public health concern due to their widespread circulation in animals, which could spark a future pandemic.
The WHO project aims to advance the development of H5N1 mRNA vaccinations ahead of potential pandemics.
No evidence the supposed Gates X post was authentic
The People's Voice article also included an image purportedly showing a post shared to X by Bill Gates, which read, "Vaccine refuseniks will feel the full weight of the law." Below is how that image appeared:
(Source: X screenshot captured Mon Aug 5 16:21:17 2024 UTC)
However, the above post appears to have been fabricated. For one, it does not follow the standard format of X posts, such as the inclusion of the date it was posted. Lead Stories found no evidence to prove that this was ever posted by Gates. An advanced search using the exact phrase returned no results (archived here),
Lead Stories contacted the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (archived here) for comment and will update this article, as appropriate, if a response is received.
Lead Stories did a search using keywords on the Google News, visible here, which found no credible documents or reporting to corroborate the claim. No mainstream media outlets have reported on either WHO or Gates having expressed such sentiments as of this publication.
The People's Voice
The People's Voice is among the most prolific online publishers of fake news. Articles on the site often link to and extensively quote stories from other sites to give an appearance of legitimacy but the main claim in the headline and/or the first paragraph of each article is almost never supported by the sources that are offered. The site routinely makes up quotes from people or misrepresents scientific study results.
It originally started as YourNewsWire in 2014 and rebranded as NewsPunch in 2017. In 2023 it rebranded itself again to The People's Voice. The People's Voice/NewsPunch/YourNewsWire has published numerous fake news articles in the past, so anything that appears on the site should be taken with a large grain of salt. Its Facebook page, "The People's Voice", lost its verification checkmark, according to a 2018 report from Media Matters For America.
Lead Stories has debunked other claims related to the WHO's pandemic agreement, including that it does not establish a "global police force" purportedly to arrest citizens who post independent media online, and that the WHO did not seek "surveillance powers to monitor every man, woman, and child for 'disease control.'"
