Covid risk 'dramatically reduced' but world may face another pandemic: Bill Gates
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Noting that risks of Covid-19 had 'dramatically reduced', Bill Gates warned that it was almost certain that the world will see another pandemic. He was speaking at Germany's annual Munich Security Conference.Gates said that severity of coronavirus had lessened and large part of the global population had attained a certain level of protection against the infection.“The chance of severe disease, which is mainly associated with being elderly and having obesity or diabetes, those risks are now dramatically reduced because of that infection exposure," he said. However, he cautioned: “We’ll have another pandemic. It will be a different pathogen next time."He said that the world would be in a better position to tackle future pandemics if investments were made in medical technology now.Gates said that it was too late to reach the goal set by World Health Organisation (WHO) to vaccinate 70 per cent of global population by mid-2022 “Next time we should try and make it, instead of two years, we should make it more like six months," he said, adding that standardized platforms, including messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, would make that possible. “The cost of being ready for the next pandemic is not that large. It’s not like climate change. If we’re rational, yes, the next time we’ll catch it early," said Gates, who is the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.