CLAIM: A well-known CEO and YouTuber suggests that taking vaccines could shorten a person’s life

FACT: False, multiple studies have highlighted the benefits of vaccines and how they have contributed to increasing longevity across the world

The founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, Shantanu Deshpande recently posted on LinkedIn mentioning “vaccines” as one of the reasons why lifespans might have decreased over the years. He does not provide anything other than anecdotal evidence for the claim. 

Deshpande’s post is about a recent 15-year reunion at IIM Calcutta,  where alumni were surprised to learn that the traditional 25-year reunion had been moved up, not just for midlife reflection, but because a growing number of batchmates weren’t surviving that long. The reason suggested was that factors like COVID-19, vaccines, or modern lifestyles might be behind the early deaths. 

The post has received a lot of flak from readers, many of whom have called it out as taken from conspiracy theorists. 

“There is no research to prove that vaccines cause heart attacks or death,” a reply to the post reads.  

Vaccines protect against life-threatening diseases

The World Health Organization has clearly stated that “immunization has saved 6 lives every minute since 1974.” 

“Over the last 50 years, essential vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives. That’s 6 lives a minute, every day, for five decades,” the WHO said in a report on the World Immunization Week, 2025. 

“In these 50 years, vaccination accounts for 40% of the improvement in infant survival, and more children now live to see their first birthday and beyond than at any other time in human history. Measles vaccine alone accounts for 60% of those lives saved,” the report added. 

Vaccines, according to the WHO,  protect against more than 30 life-threatening diseases.

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has said that “immunization is one of the most effective and cost-efficient intervention for controlling and eradicating diseases, saving millions of lives globally each year.” 

“Vaccines help protect individuals from diseases like measles, polio, tuberculosis, and COVID-19,”the ministry’s website states. 

Also read: World Immunization Week: Vaccines are probably one of the biggest innovation of the 20th century, says Dr Soumya Swaminathan – First Check

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