the immediate, the “deadly”, the hope of spring and what he thinks of each vaccine

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is right to talk about the coronavirus. Since the start of the pandemic, he has been active in the media, giving advice and asking people to maintain their social distance, wear a mask and get vaccinated.

Following his departure from Microsoft, Gates, 65, became an expert in treatments, vaccines and epidemics. Faced with the coronavirus, he has invested 450 million dollars for the development of vaccines and, above all, for their distribution.

Now the Microsoft co-founder has uploaded a post to his blog in a post titled “The advances that will make 2021 better than 2020”, in which he reflects on lessons learned from the previous year, as well as what we can expect in the months to come.

“According to computer models, we are not out of danger, the next few months could be the deadliest due to coronavirus infections, especially due to the need to know more about the new strain of virus that has emerged and which appears to be spreading faster, but not deadlier, ” he explained in your blog.

But Gates is confident and thinks 2021 will be better because 2020 has generated amazing scientific breakthroughs: “When I think about the pace of scientific advances in 2020, that surprises me. Humans have never progressed further in any disease in a year than the world in COVID-19 in 2020. “

Vaccines will be the big challenge of the year for the entrepreneur: “The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been shown to be safe and very effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19. Because they work by targeting the coronavirus spike protein, one of its critical components, it is likely that vaccines in development that do the same also works“.

“Unfortunately, there are not yet many factories where mRNA products can be manufactured. Some also have to be stored at temperatures as low as -70 ° C, which makes them particularly difficult to distribute in developing countries. development, although this is more of a challenge, rather than a scientific barrier. There are two main reasons for hope. The first is that masks, social distancing and other interventions can slow the spread of the virus and save lives during vaccine implementation The second reason is that spring 2021, the vaccines and treatments you’ve heard about in the news will start to scale up to have a global impact, ”Gates added.

“Global cooperation is one of the reasons I see promises for this year, and not just the promise of controlling the pandemic. I believe that the world also has the opportunity to take concrete action on one of the other great challenges of our world. time: climate change In a year, I think we can look back and say 2021 was an improvement over 2020. The change may not be huge, but it will be a step forward, remarkable and measurable for all the peoples of the world, ”concludes his article Gates.

In December, the billionaire Microsoft founder offered further predictions during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. Asked about the severity of the Covid-19 crisis in the months to come before vaccines become widely available, Gates said: “Well, unfortunately the next four to six months could be the worst of the epidemic.”

Gates says he expects coronavirus-related lockdowns and quarantines to last until 2022 and restaurants can close their doors. Microsoft founder is focusing on the United States, where he notes that the worst of the pandemic is yet to come, particularly until mid-2021, when it is believed there will already be a mass vaccination and widespread throughout the country.

Gates asked the population to continue with care measures, to prevent 200,000 additional deaths from the coronavirus. The reporter then asked: ‘When do you think life will be completely back to what we thought was normal in January? No masks, no social distancing, no other necessary protective measures. “

And Gates replied: “Of course, until the beginning of 2022, Unless you help other countries get rid of this disease and get high vaccination rates in our country, the risk of reintroduction will be there. We will have nine months to come when things like large public gatherings should be restricted. “

Vaccination

The vaccine is the only solution to the pandemic, according to Gates. To demonstrate this, he referred to the success of vaccination campaigns against malaria, Ebola and polio in Africa and Asia, projects to which he contributed through his foundation. Therefore, in light of recent results from the Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which were successful in demonstrating high efficacy in phase 3 studies, he was optimistic:

“I think almost any vaccine is going to be a success. It’s good science, good industrial manufacture and good cooperation, even between institutions in various countries, ”said Gates. “In this war, we are all together.”

Therefore, when asked if he was going to be vaccinated, he was blunt: “I will immediately try my luck and I will get the vaccine, ”he said, acknowledging that the priorities established to first vaccinate a certain population at risk must be respected.