Billionaire Bill Gates said the omicron variant moved faster than COVID-19 vaccines, creating a high level of natural immunity, reports Washington Examiner.
The Munich University Conference
While speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Gates, who has helped to fund the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, was asked for his opinion on where the pandemic stands.
Billionaire Bill Gates said the omicron variant moved faster than COVID-19 vaccines, creating a high level of natural immunity.
While speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Gates, who has helped to fund the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, was asked for his opinion on where the pandemic stands.
Ominous omicron
“Sadly, the virus itself, particularly, the variant called omicron, is a type of vaccine, that is, it creates both B-cell and T-cell immunity, and it’s done a better job getting out to the world population than we have with vaccines,” the Microsoft co-founder said.
“That means the chance of severe disease, which is mainly associated with being elderly and having obesity or diabetes, those risks are now dramatically reduced because of that infection, exposure.”
Gates, who is not a medical doctor, noted that vaccination efforts moved too slowly for his liking.
Vaccines Vs Omicron
“It’s sad we didn’t do a great job on therapeutics, only two years in, and we have a good therapeutic,” Gates said. “Vaccines have took us two years to be in oversupply. Today, there are more vaccines than there is demand for vaccines.”
Gates called for a quicker response “more like six months.”
The national state of emergency
On Friday, President Joe Biden extended the national state of emergency in response to COVID-19.
The National Emergencies Act requires that the president notify Congress within 90 days prior to the state of emergency expiring or the state of emergency is automatically terminated.
“More than 900,000 people in this Nation have perished from the disease, and it is essential to continue to combat and respond to COVID-19 with the full capacity and capability of the Federal Government,” Biden stated in his notice.
The national state of emergency was set to expire on March 1. Biden’s notification comes as truckers and motorists are preparing to protest against the state of emergency with a cross-country trip from California to Washington, D.C., called “The People’s Convoy.”
Did you subscribe to our daily Newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe
Source: Washington Examiner