As the Covid-19 pandemic appears to finally enter the endemic stage after nearly two and a half years, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has come out issuing a stern warning about an imminent pandemic in the future. Gates also said that the next pandemic will not come from the coronavirus family but will be a different kind of infection.
The Microsoft co-founder noted that the threat from Covid-19 has “dramatically decreased” with the wide access to vaccines. Gates, who had issued a warning about the Omicron wave back in December, has now said that the world will see “another pandemic” and this time it will be a different “pathogen”.
“The risk of serious disease, which is primarily related with being elderly and having obesity or diabetes, is now drastically lowered as a result of that infection exposure,” Gates said during an interaction with American TV news channel CNBC.
“The cost of being prepared for the next epidemic is not that high. It’s not like global warming. Yes, if we’re logical, we’ll catch it early the next time,” he also said.
He said that the risk of serious disease, which is mainly associated with “being elderly and having obesity or diabetes” has been drastically reduced.
He further said that the target of 70% global vaccination by middle of 2022 set by the WHO is “too late.”
Nevertheless, Gates showed optimism with respect to the reduced severity of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, about 61% of the people around the world have had at least one dose of the vaccine.
