Future pandemics will be far worse than Covid warns Bill Gates

Future pandemics will be far worse than Covid warns Bill Gates.


BILLIONAIRE philanthropist Bill Gates warns the world that future pandemics will probably be far worse than Covid and encourages governments to cough up some cash to prepare for further outbreaks – with the UK government next in line.
Gates, as part of the Bill & Melania Gates Foundation, announced on Tuesday, January 18 that he had donated $150 million (€132,284 million) to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) – an organisation designed to continue the “fight against coronavirus as well as in preparation for potential pandemics in the future”.
Speaking about the work done by CEPI, the Microsoft founder said in a statement: “As the world responds to the challenge of a rapidly evolving virus, the need to deliver new, lifesaving tools has never been more urgent.”
CEO of CEPI, Dr Richard Hatchet, said: “These generous pledges will dramatically advance CEPI’s plan to reduce epidemic and pandemic risk in the future by developing vaccines against emerging infectious diseases while ensuring equitable access for all.”
“The unprecedented spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant around the world over the past two months exemplifies the ways in which we must be ready both in terms of speed and the scale of our response to future threats,” CEPI Chief Executive Richard Hatchett told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday.
“We must endeavour to take pandemic threats off the table if we can,” he said.
The donation from the 66-year-old, who alongside the CEPI helped form the Covax programme to deliver vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, comes ahead of a March 8 fundraising event sponsored by the UK government that aims to raise $3.5 billion (€3.1 billion) on behalf of CEPI.
UK’s Health Minister Sajid Javid acknowledged the donation from Bill Gates and upcoming visit in a tweet on January 19, writing: “Excellent to see this commitment from the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melania Gates Foundation to the CEPI.
“Looking forward to the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit here in the UK in March as we continue CEPI’s vital work on vaccine development.”
The $3.5 billion (€3.1 billion), according to the CEPI, will help deliver a vaccine in 100 days against the next disease in order to give the world a fighting chance to extinguish the existential threat of a future pandemic virus.


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Written by

Matthew Roscoe

Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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