American billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates said in an interview with the BBC that a coronavirus vaccine could be ready in a year and a half, but in order to mass produce the drug worldwide, it may be necessary to relax the usual safety testing procedures. “Compromises will be necessary,” Gates said. “We will have fewer security checks than in a normal situation. In addition, governments will have to decide whether to release companies from liability and tell them, ‘Go ahead, get to work,’ in a situation where we just don’t have time to do everything by the usual rules.”
In mid-March, BBC medical correspondent James Gallagher reported that scientists have already developed several variants of the Covid-19 vaccine and are currently testing them in animals. If the tests are successful, the next stage – human trials – could begin as early as this year. Scientists’ efforts are complicated by the fact that there can be several types of coronavirus in the world at the same time.
Meanwhile, the leading British scientist in the fight against coronaviruses – representative of the Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farar – stated in an interview with the BBC that the development of a vaccine is further complicated by the fact that analyses of some individuals who have already recovered from Covid-19 show the presence of the virus a second time. According to him, this has happened to nearly 100 patients in South Korea, and scientists do not yet understand whether this means that the virus remains active in the blood or that these people are being reinfected.
The Microsoft founder’s charitable foundation is among those funding the development of a vaccine against Covid-19. According to Gates, only vaccination will allow us to return to the way of life that existed before the Covid-19 pandemic. Bill Gates, who has long warned about the possibility of a global pandemic, also said that not enough money is being spent on developing a new vaccine, even though the fight against the new coronavirus is already being compared to a war and much more money is being spent on security.
“Scientists around the world are working to develop vaccines. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. The number of episodes should remain the same. The end of the story: Podcast Advertising “There was a time when both I and medical experts said that the pandemic could become the greatest catastrophe humanity has ever faced,” Gates told the BBC. “Back in 2015, I spoke about that threat when I spoke to an audience in New England. So without a doubt, we will all look back and regret that we did not invest enough resources to be able to diagnose quickly and have the necessary drugs, vaccines and equipment.”
“We have all underfunded epidemic preparedness. Yes, we created the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which has helped develop new vaccines. But that is only about 5% of what we could have done,” says Gates. “Over time, we will look at all of this and very few countries will get an ‘excellent’ rating because most are just trying to react to what is happening. We were not prepared for this,” said the company’s founder. “No one was prepared, no one tried to think about what could happen. As a result, we are in uncharted territory when it comes to healthcare organization and economic policy.”
In mid-March, it was reported that the first trials of a coronavirus vaccine had begun in volunteers in the United States. The development of this vaccine is being funded by the US National Institutes of Health. However, experts also predicted that even if these trials are successful, it could be another year and a half before the vaccine is available.
