Microsoft founder Bill Gates (@thisisbillgates) estimated in recent interview that life may not return back to normal until 2022, although a vaccine for COVID-19 is currently being produced. The chief science officer at the World Health Organization, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, predicted a similar outcome to CNN reporters this week.
Gates told “Fox News Sunday” that the COVID-19 vaccine will likely come in early 2021, and the pre-pandemic lifestyle will return somewhere around the summer of 2021. Although developing a vaccine usually takes a decade, efforts to create a vaccine for coronavirus are proceeding at an extremely rapid pace. Currently, there are 40 vaccines in clinical trials and 9 in Phase 3 of testing, according to The New York Times.
“We’re looking at 2022 at least before enough people start getting the vaccine to build immunity,” Dr. Swaminathan said to reporters on Tuesday.
The United States has the highest number of cases in the world, and nearly 30,000 Americans have died from it, according to Johns Hopkins University. There is speculation that immunity might be difficult to achieve in the U.S. due to a potentially low effectiveness percentage and many anti-vaccination superstitions.
COVID-19 Vaccine Update
With the vaccine in reach, sources announced that healthcare workers, at-risk citizens, and White House officials will be the first to receive the vaccine.
Bill Gates voiced his frustrations over the fact that the U.S. still has no solid testing strategy for the coronavirus, and that lack of testing has led to massive spread of the virus.
“You know what happened was that 40,000 people came out of China, because we didn’t ban the residents and citizens from coming in. We created this rush. And we didn’t have the ability to test or quarantine those people, so that seeded the disease here,” Gates told CNN. ”Even today, people don’t get their results in 24 hours, which is outrageous that we still have that.”
Moving Forward
During a virtual meeting hosted by the United Nations foundation, the WHO chief mentions that all social distancing and mask protocols need to continue after the vaccine rolls out in order for citizens to build immunity. “We need 60% to 70% of the population to have immunity before you will start seeing a dramatic reduction in transmission of this virus,” she said. Dr. Swaminathan also raised an important question: How long does immunity last?
Kristen Fessler| IG: @kristenfess | Twitter: @kristenfessler
