NewsBytes
    Hindi Tamil Telugu
    More
    In the news
    Joe Biden
    United States of America
    COVID-19
    Pakistan
    Russia-Ukraine crisis
    NewsBytes
    Hindi Tamil Telugu
    NewsBytes
    User Placeholder

    Hi,

    Logout


    India Business World Politics Sports Technology Entertainment Auto Lifestyle Inspirational Career Bengaluru Delhi Mumbai Visual Stories Find Cricket Statistics Phones Reviews Fitness Bands Reviews Speakers Reviews

    Download Android App

    Follow us on
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
     
    Home / News / World News / Not herd-immunity; vaccine critical for ending pandemic, says Bill Gates
    World

    Not herd-immunity; vaccine critical for ending pandemic, says Bill Gates

    Not herd-immunity; vaccine critical for ending pandemic, says Bill Gates
    Written by Siddhant Pandey
    Sep 16, 2020, 12:03 am 4 min read
    Not herd-immunity; vaccine critical for ending pandemic, says Bill Gates

    Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said that a vaccine for COVID-19 is critical and the herd immunity strategy cannot end the pandemic. Gates, who is the co-chair of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), also mentioned that India's pharmaceutical industry will play a major role in the large-scale production of the vaccine, according to Hindustan Times. Here are more details.

    Gates highlights two issues with herd immunity

    Gates highlighted two issues with relying on the herd immunity strategy. To achieve herd immunity, many more would need to get sick, which would mean millions of deaths, Gates said. Secondly, herd immunity is always temporary, he added. Since children will be born without immunity to the virus, it will eventually start spreading again. "For both reasons, a vaccine is critical," he said.

    How long could a vaccine protect against virus?

    Gates said it is too soon to answer how long a vaccine's protection would last adding, "We don't have enough data on the duration of antibody and T-cell response to the disease itself, let alone to the various vaccine candidates." He said vaccines currently under development use different mechanisms, which offers a greater possibility of finding an effective vaccine.

    India's pharma industry to play 'major role' in ending pandemic

    Further, Gates said India's pharmaceutical industry and vaccine producers will play a "major role" in ending the pandemic. He said India has the potential to "manufacture high-quality vaccines at scale for affordable prices," citing the example of the Serum Institute of India. The institute manufactures more vaccines than any other company, Gates said, and it has agreed to price its vaccines at around $3/dose.

    Our foundation recently announced funding to Serum Institute: Gates

    Gates said, "Our foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, recently announced funding to the Serum Institute to help it ramp up manufacturing capacity so it can produce up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for low and middle-income countries in 2021."

    Gates expresses confidence in efforts to ensure equitable vaccine access

    With many countries entering billion-dollar deals to pre-order millions of doses of vaccines, there is speculation that the vaccine may not reach low and middle-income countries in time. Gates assured that the Gavi vaccine alliance has 20 years' experience in helping low-income countries with immunization. It is also one of the partners for the COVAX initiative, which aims to ensure equitable access to vaccines.

    'Will raise money to ensure vaccines don't go to highest-bidders'

    "So far, about 80 countries have made commitments to the COVAX Facility, so momentum is building. In the next month, one of our priorities is to help raise the money that's needed to ensure that vaccines don't just go to the highest bidder," he added.

    Hard to overstate role of data: Gates

    Gates said it would be "hard to overstate the importance of data." He said while we are waiting on vaccines and treatments, the focus is on understanding "with precision" how the disease is spreading. He said, "When new treatments and vaccines become available, data will be critical in helping the world determine how those new tools are changing the patterns of disease."

    'Every country will benefit when we work together'

    Gates said, "The root cause of everything that's happening is a virus that doesn't recognize borders. Borders matter less and less to the global economy, too." He added, "While policies that stop at borders may help citizens of a given country cope with the symptoms of the crisis, they won't stop it. Every country will benefit when all countries work together on solutions."

    Is the world prepared to combat a pandemic?

    Gates had said after the H1N1 outbreak that the world is not prepared for the next pandemic. When asked about global preparedness now, he said, "We know a lot more now about what it will take to be fully prepared." "We've seen examples of partners working in new ways that will help keep the next pandemic from doing as much damage as this one."

    Over 29 million sick worldwide; US worst-hit

    Globally, the virus has infected over 29 million, including 0.9 million deaths. The United States is the worst-hit country with 6.5 million cases and 1.9 lakh deaths. Speaking to STAT, Gates criticized America's handling of the crisis saying, "You know, this has been a mismanaged situation every step of the way." India is the second worst-hit with 4.9 million cases and 80,776 deaths.

    Share this timeline
    Facebook
    Whatsapp
    Twitter
    Linkedin
    Latest
    Microsoft
    Vaccine
    Bill Gates
    Hindustan Times

    Latest

    Jos Buttler registers his 11th ODI century; surpasses 4,500 runs Jos Buttler
    3rd T20I: Ton-up Gill powers India to 234/4 versus NZ India vs New Zealand Cricket
    Dawid Malan hits his 3rd ODI century: Key stats Dawid Malan
    Gill becomes seventh Indian to slam a century in T20Is India vs New Zealand Cricket

    Microsoft

    PayPal faces job cuts amid economic slowdown; 2,000 employees axed PayPal
    Microsoft services face outage: Teams, Outlook, Azure down globally Microsoft Teams
    Microsoft's profit declines by 12% in Q4 amid economic uncertainties Satya Nadella
    Microsoft extends partnership with OpenAI in a multibillion dollar investment Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

    Vaccine

    India's 1st nasal COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech launched COVID-19
    US approves world's first vaccine for honey bees United States of America
    China slams 'distorted' Western reports on COVID-19 response, eases restrictions China
    Delhi: Government centers run out of free COVID-19 booster vaccine Delhi

    Bill Gates

    Bill Gates is not a big fan of Web3, metaverse Metaverse
    #NewsBytesExplainer: How Satya Nadella brought Microsoft back from irrelevancy Microsoft
    Inside Bill-Melinda Gates's daughter Jennifer Gates's extravagant baby shower Instagram
    Gautam Adani is first Asian to become world's third richest Mukesh Ambani

    Hindustan Times

    India's COVID-19 vaccination campaign crosses milestone of 2 billion doses Narendra Modi
    No foreign leader as R-Day chief guest this year: Report Narendra Modi
    Ahead of nationwide exercise, COVID-19 vaccine dry run in Haryana India
    Fashion designer Swapnil Shinde comes out as a transwoman Mumbai

    Love World News?

    Subscribe to stay updated.

    World Thumbnail
    Indian Premier League (IPL) Celebrity Hollywood Bollywood UEFA Champions League Tennis Football Smartphones Cryptocurrency Upcoming Movies Premier League Cricket News Latest automobiles Latest Cars Upcoming Cars Latest Bikes Upcoming Tablets
    About Us Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Contact Us Ethical Conduct Grievance Redressal News News Archive Topics Archive Download DevBytes Find Cricket Statistics
    Follow us on
    Facebook Twitter Linkedin
    All rights reserved © NewsBytes 2023