Bill Gates has issued a warning of pandemics far worse than Covid-19 as he called on governments to contribute billions of dollars to preparing for the next global outbreak.
The philanthropist said that while the Omicron and Delta variants of coronavirus were some of the most transmissive viruses ever seen, the world could have had to face a pathogen causing a far higher rate of fatalities or severe disease.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK’s Wellcome Trust are giving $300m to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which helped form the Covax programme to deliver vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. CEPI is trying to raise $3.5bn as it aims to cut the time required to develop a new vaccine to just 100 days.