Gates Calls for ‘United Front’ And Donates an Extra $150 Million in Fight against Coronavirus

As the US President stated that he was removing the country's funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also spent another $150 million in the global response to COVID-19.

The new donation brings the overall philanthropy company to $250 million.

No small sum considering the Gates Foundation is still the second biggest sponsor of the WHO after the United States.

“We have a responsibility to meet this global crisis with global solidarity,” said Foundation co-chair Melinda Gates ahead of the announcement. 

“In addition to contributing to the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, these funds will support efforts against COVID-19 in low-and-middle-income countries, where local leaders and healthcare workers are doing heroic work to protect vulnerable communities and slow the spread of the disease,” she said.

Four areas are listed in the Gates Foundation's new dedication, but maybe the most pressing is the need to produce goods such as vaccines and reliable treatments.

“It's very clear that this is a global pandemic and the only solutions will work if they are globally applied,” Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told The Telegraph.

“In the end game, we need everyone on the planet to be vaccinated. But that is more than a year away. So in the meantime, we’re looking at what we can do to minimize the loss of life and socio-economic destruction.”

The coronavirus vaccination is between 12 to 18 months out, according to several figures.

Nonetheless, some analysts are worried that the practical introduction of the global inoculation system may take far longer to be enforced and that certain countries are struggling to create viable strategies in the meanwhile.

“Under normal circumstances, it would take five to 10 years [to develop a vaccine] and the average cost would be around $1 billion,” said Dr. Jerome Kim, Director-General of the International Vaccine Institute. “Under not-normal circumstances, such as these, we would look to accelerate the vaccine to 12-18 months until the proof of concept.”

“But that doesn’t take into account the time for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to approve the dossier. It doesn’t take into account the time it takes for WHO’s team to approve the vaccine. And doesn’t take into account the time it takes to manufacture [and then distribute] the vaccine,” he added.

The biggest hurdle in vaccine development are large scale human trials.

“You need to test that there aren’t some unexpected side effects in some cohorts and groups – whether that be pregnant women, young or elderly,” explained Mr. Suzman.

“That’s extremely important if you’re about to give it to seven billion people”

There is concern that the world’s poorest don't have time to wait for the “miracle vaccine”.

This is why the world must come together in a united response to quicken progress and establish sustainable solutions across the board, said Dr. David Nabarro, WHO COVID-19 Special Envoy.

“Without solidarity, we won’t win. We can’t spend too much time looking backwards. We have to focus on the epic struggle now. This is the New Normal we've all got to get used to it and if we argue about it, the virus will find its way between us and it will catch us out.”

“Then we will be asking ourselves, why on earth did we move quicker? Why didn't we develop a unified strategic approach and implement it properly?” he added.

It’s a sentiment shared by the Gates Foundation’s other co-founder Bill Gates, who wrote in The Telegraph this weekend:

“The virus doesn’t care about borders. Even if wealthy nations succeed in slowing the disease over the next few months, COVID-19 could return if the pandemic remains severe enough elsewhere. It is likely only a matter of time before one part of the planet re-infects another.”

“Beating this pandemic will require an unprecedented level of international funding and cooperation,” Mr. Gates added.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk