# Elon connected to a vaccine company?



## GDN (Oct 30, 2017)

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/tesla-backed-vaccine-stock-gets-145420600.html


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Yep, that's been known for a few months.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1278578543044300805
Tesla's 'side project' building RNA microfactories for CureVac


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## djejnyc (May 18, 2018)

garsh said:


> Yep, that's been known for a few months.
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1278578543044300805
> Tesla's 'side project' building RNA microfactories for CureVac


Fascinating! I would have never thought this, since personally he doesn't seem to believe in the virus' deadliness? Or am I getting that wrong?


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

djejnyc said:


> Fascinating! I would have never thought this, since personally he doesn't seem to believe in the virus' deadliness? Or am I getting that wrong?


He did make a bunch of comments on twitter about it. I don't think he was denying that the virus was deadly, but that the death rate wasn't as bad as people were fearing, and that shutting down the economy would be a worse choice.

He believed the government was over-reacting by shutting down so many businesses for so long. China was hit by the virus first, and he saw how quickly China was able to stop the spread and allow businesses to reopen (with proper precautions taken) within a few weeks. So when Alameda county was taking too long to allow Tesla to re-open, he decided to force the issue.


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## slacker775 (May 30, 2018)

He definitely displayed a good amount of ignorance about the virus. China was able to do a brief shutdown and get back to things for multiple reasons. Having been through SARS and avian flus etc, they were prepared to start wearing masks and they followed orders when the government shut things down. Elon seemed to be somewhat in denial of the severity of the situation because of the economic impact to him and Tesla. I’m sure the never specific answers that he was getting from various levels of leadership didn’t help either.


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## JasonF (Oct 26, 2018)

slacker775 said:


> He definitely displayed a good amount of ignorance about the virus. China was able to do a brief shutdown and get back to things for multiple reasons. Having been through SARS and avian flus etc, they were prepared to start wearing masks and they followed orders when the government shut things down. Elon seemed to be somewhat in denial of the severity of the situation because of the economic impact to him and Tesla. I'm sure the never specific answers that he was getting from various levels of leadership didn't help either.


I'm surprised so many people focus on China as having the solution to beat the pandemic. Japan still has one of the lowest infection and death rates in the world, and their economic situation and level of personal freedom mirrors more closely what we have in the United States. Japan didn't have full stay-at-home orders like many places in the U.S. did, just closed a few things that common sense told them were hazardous like pachinko parlors and gyms for a couple of months. Some restaurants switched to take-out only, but that was up to the restaurant, and it was also up to stores to require masks.


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