Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s best-known entrepreneurs, warned of the danger that looms over the world of having to face in the future an even worse pandemic than that caused by COVID-19.
Gates remarked that humanity may still have to deal with a pathogen that has rates of death or severe illness higher than the delta or omicron variants.
In statements collected by Financial Times, the businessman highlighted that in times of COVID-19, solving the inequitable distribution of vaccines has been a task that rich governments and philanthropists have tried to solve.
He added that this policy is a “good insurance” It is about “spending billions of dollars to save trillions in economic damage and billions of lives.”
Preparing for the ‘next COVID-19’ can cure other diseases
Gates commented that a “legacy” of having a world better prepared for the next pandemic could be a vaccine against HIV/AIDS or better doses against diseases such as tuberculosis or malaria.
“To end COVID-19 and make sure we never have another disastrous pandemic, we need innovation, particularly in creating vaccines,” he said.
The Gates Foundation, the most influential and important philanthropic organization in the world, will invest together with the Wellcome organization 150 million dollars in the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI). Gates highlighted the work of that group during the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic.
“CEPI has invested in 14 COVID-19 vaccine candidates and continues to work on targeting variants of concern of the virus and on the next generation of vaccines that may offer not only better protection against COVID-19, but but against all coronaviruses”, he remarked.
www.elfinanciero.com.mx