In a CNN interview, Bill Gates said that “almost all” of the COVID-19 vaccines will “prove safe” by February 2021. The co-founder of Microsoft and the Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also said that he expects more vaccines will have the same success as Pfizer and Moderna.
According to Gates, the other COVID-19 vaccines are from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax. He said that he is confident that “all the vaccines will work and with very high efficacy levels”.
“I’m optimistic that by February it’s very likely that they’ll all prove very efficacious and safe,” said Gates.
However, he stressed that “we should still be worried for the next six months”. Gates expects the number of daily infections to continue increasing in the U.S.
“We’re still climbing up (in cases) and that climb is expected to continue literally through February. And that’s where you get likely over 2,000 deaths per day during this winter period,” he said.
On the 23 November, the U.S. gained 178,945 COVID-19 cases in one day. The cases in the country have been skyrocketing—with about 1,000 to nearly 2,000 deaths daily. The U.S. is the country with the highest number of daily cases and deaths, above India, Brazil and France.
In the meantime, Gates recommended that Americans wear masks and be smart about public health practices. He also said that ideally, people will be doubling down on good behaviour, even with upcoming medical tools.
“Try not to have your family be the last death in this pandemic because you’re willing to see it through until the spring, which is when the vaccine will really start to cut the numbers down. And, of course, the change in weather will be helping us as well,” he said.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than USD 350 million (RM1.4 billion) to support the global response to COVID-19. This includes helping to protect at-risk populations in Africa and South Asia, and supporting future efforts to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries.
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