Bill Gates warns another pandemic is almost certain

February 21, 2022 | 10:38 a.m.

Bill Gates said Friday that the risks of serious illness from COVID-19 have been “dramatically reduced”, however, he warned that another pandemic is almost certain.

The co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told CNBC that a possible new pandemic It would probably come from a different pathogen than the coronavirus family.

However, he added that advances in medical technology should help the world do a better job of fighting it, if investments are made now.

We will have another pandemic. It will be a different pathogen next time

Gates said.

Two years into the coronavirus pandemic, Gates said the worst effects have faded as large sections of the world’s population have gained some level of immunityin addition to the fact that its severity has also decreased with the last omicron variant.

However, Gates said that in many places that was due to the virus itself, which builds a level of immunity and “has done a better job of reaching the world population than with vaccines.”

The chance of serious illness, which is primarily associated with older age and obesity or diabetes, those risks are now dramatically reduced due to exposure to infection

said.

It may interest you: Bill Gates warns that omicron variant could mark ‘the worst part of the pandemic’

‘Too late’ to vaccinate 70% of the population

Gates said it was “too late” to meet the World Health Organization’s target (WHO) to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population by mid-2022.

Currently 61.9% of the world population has received at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19.

He added that the world should move faster in the future to develop and distribute vaccines, calling on governments to invest now.

“Next time we should try to do it, instead of two years, we should do it in like six months,” Gates said, adding that standardized platforms, including messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, would make it possible.

“The cost of being prepared for the next pandemic is not that great. It’s not like climate change. If we’re rational, yes, next time we’ll catch him early.”

Also read: Bill Gates invests in carbon capture startup

Gates, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, partnered with Wellcome Trust from the UK to donate $300 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which helped form the COVAX program to deliver vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

CEPI aims to raise $3.5 billion in an effort to reduce the time required to develop a new vaccine to just 100 days.

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