Bill Gates is expected to have a coronavirus vaccine ready within the next 12 months

MICROSOFT'S billionaire owner Bill Gates's foundation is on course to have a coronavirus vaccine ready within the next 12 months as the millions of dollars it has pumped into finding a cure the virus is starting to yield dividends.

 

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Mr Gates has been at the centre of a controversy as he has not only called for the manufacturing of a vaccine but has also blamed the spread of the virus on over-population. This has led to fears that he may manufacture a vaccine that will cause sterility and reduce the global population.

 

Across the US, there have been several anti-Gates demonstrations, with protesters accusing him of seeking to gain automated control of humanity. It has been alleged that Microsoft will produce a vaccine that includes a chip, allowing it to not only monitor people but also terminate lives when the corporation deems it fit.

 

Despite the criticism, Mr Gates has continued with seeking to find a vaccine, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, pumping money into the project.  Mr Gates said his foundation with an endowment fund exceeding $40bn, will give total attention to the pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 worldwide.

 

He added: “You’re going to have economies with greatly reduced activity levels for years. This pandemic could cost the global economy tens of trillions of dollars."

 

So far, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed $250m to help counter Covid-19 and is re-purposing units dedicated to fighting other diseases to join in the battle against the pandemic. Mr Gates said: “We’ve taken an organization that was focused on HIV and malaria and polio eradication and almost entirely shifted it to work on this."

 

Mr Gates also defended the World Health Organisation (WHO) against accusations from US President Donald Trump that the body had mishandled the virus response. He said, however,  he does not believe President Trump will follow through on his threat to withdraw US funding for the WHO.

 

“WHO is clearly very, very important and should actually get extra support to perform their role during this epidemic,” Mr Gates added.

Share