Founder and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, recently itted in an interview that he would not take a COVID-19 vaccine when it is inevitably released. Never one to shy away from speaking his mind and stirring controversy, Musk has once again offered a puzzling response to a global pandemic that has now sured seven months and has claimed over one million lives globally.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, many people were uninformed, unbothered, and even skeptical. Elon Musk led that charge on social media early on. He first tweeted 'The coronavirus panic is dumb,' then two weeks later predicted there would be close to zero new cases by the end of April. As of October there have been 7.25 million new cases in the U.S. alone, claiming over 200,000 lives. By the end of April, Musk pulled a play out of President Trump's book and Tweeted, 'FREE AMERICA NOW,' pushing back against government regulations to shut down businesses and limit human to avoid further spread of the virus. Musk has many times claimed his qualms with COVID protocol are in the name of freedom, but many feel these frustrations and actions are related more to money.
During a New York Times interview, Musk claimed he is not at risk for COVID-19, nor are his children and therefore, has no interest in taking a vaccine when one becomes available. In the interview, Musk called the pandemic, "a hot button issue where rationality takes a backseat" and when pushed further on the stance, with suggestions that others who are at risk could be placed in greater danger, Musk asked to move on from the topic.
Musk Will Go Down In History As An Inspiring Leader... Mostly
Elon Musk has spearheaded putting humans on Mars, putting computers in people's brains, and is now helping produce electric vehicles that can travel over 500 miles on a single charge. All that being said, Musk's brilliant history of innovation has been tattered with outspoken, reckless and sometimes, polarizing comments, particularly on Twitter. Every person is entitled to their own opinion and decision as it pertains to a potential coronavirus vaccine of course, but with such a large audience comes a certain responsibility for objectivity or, at the very least, empathy. During the interview, Musk was warned that the onset of colder weather and flu season could bring on even more infected cases. Musk nonchalantly responded, 'everybody dies.'
What is most discerning about the interview was the lack of reasoning or willingness to elaborate on his strong opinions. Musk was asked to put himself in the shoes of his Tesla employees, of which he battled county officials in May to prematurely reopen Tesla's facilities in California only to have some workers quickly test positive for the virus. Musk refused to offer a response and bluntly requested to move on to other topics. Elon Musk is not a political leader, nor does he claim to be a philanthropist or even a role model. That being said, he does have nearly 40 million followers on Twitter and a global fanbase of people that often blindly worship all he says and does on any given day. It's interesting that someone that is so deeply consumed in science and humanity could have such ambiguously strong opinions about a potentially lifesaving vaccine. Musk is entitled to whatever he feels is safest for him and his family, it just would be wise of him to offer the logical reasoning behind those decisions for those who follow him, Tesla, or any of his other ventures, so closely.
Source: NYT