Microsoft's Bill Gates said that COVID-19 could soon be treated like seasonal flu, at least once the more transmissible Omicron variant cases have already declined after its peak.
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, participates in a panel discussion during the Financial Inclusion Forum December 1, 2015 at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) held the forum to discuss "ways to foster greater access to safe and affordable financial services for everyone."
Microsoft's Bill Gates: COVID-19 Could Be Like Seasonal Flu
The co-founder of Microsoft, billionaire Bill Gates, is hopeful that the COVID-19 pandemic is actually nearing its end.
As per the news story by Business Insider, it comes as we are already facing the third year of the novel coronavirus pandemic, wherein the number of cases has been record-breaking in the past few days.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 02: Bill Gates attends day three of COP26 on November 02, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. 2021 sees the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will run from 31 October for two weeks, finishing on 12 November. It was meant to take place in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the dark times that the world is currently facing during the start of the year, Gates is shedding light on how the worst of COVID is about to end this pandemic.
The Microsoft co-founder said on his Twitter account that "once Omicron goes through a country, then the rest of the year should see far fewer cases."
He said these pronouncements as a response to the chair of global public health of the University of Edinburgh, Devi Sridhar, on his Twitter Q&A.
Furthermore, Gates said that by that time "COVID can be treated more like seasonal flu."
A more transmissive variant is not likely but we have been surprised a lot during this pandemic. Omicron will create a lot of immunity at least for the next year. @trvrb tracks the genetics really well. We may have to take yearly shots for Covid for some time.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) January 11, 2022
COVID-19 Pandemic to Endemic?
In turn, the billionaire is hopeful that Omicron's effect in taming the COVID-19 pandemic will turn into an endemic instead, which is essentially like the annual flu that we have been experiencing.
Meanwhile, according to the report by Fox Business, the former minister for vaccine deployment of the United Kingdom, Nadhim Zahawi, who is now the secretary of education, shared his hopeful wish for the British nation.
Zahawi said that he wishes that the UK "will be one of the first major economies to demonstrate to the world how you transition from pandemic to endemic."
On top of that, the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, is now also telling other leaders in the continent to consider the COVID-19 pandemic as if it is endemic.
Bill Gates and COVID Vaccines
In the same Twitter Q&A, Gates told Sridhar that the current vaccines that we have against the COVID-19 only "prevent severe disease and death."
He further noted that there are two missing key features from the available vaccines out there.
First, the Microsoft founder said the current COVID-19 vaccines have yet to prevent breakthrough infections from the virus. What's more, he also noted that the duration of the protection from both severe symptoms and death still appears to be for a limited time only.
Gates suggested that COVID-19 vaccines should both "prevent re-infection and have many years of duration."
Related Article: Bill Gates Says He's Not Going to Put 'Chips in Arms' After Being a Subject of Misinformation During the Covid-19 Pandemic
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Written by Teejay Boris
