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Melinda Gates has called on rich nations to stop “accumulating” coronavirus vaccines, and said it was disappointing how little was being done to prevent the pandemic from reaching developing countries.
The American philanthropist told the Financial Times that developed countries should vaccinate their populations only “to a point” before giving supplies to those most in need.
“It is not necessary to be vaccinated until the end, for example, in the adolescent population. . . before sending vaccine doses, ”Gates said in a pre-recorded interview with editor Roula Khalaf for the three-day global event in the FT boardroom.
“It’s incredibly unfortunate” that low-income nations don’t get more shots, Gates said. Some “can’t even vaccinate their health care workers.”
Covax, the World Health Organization-backed mechanism to help poorer countries access Covid-19 drugs, needed $ 2 billion in additional funding and more vaccine supplies, he said.
While acknowledging that Western leaders were under internal political pressure to protect their own citizens, Gates added that there was a practical and moral case for them to give supplies.
“We all benefit from the reopening of the world economy,” he said.
The former Microsoft executive added that while vaccine research and development had been remarkably successful, the global system for making them “did not work” and had created bottlenecks.
“We need to manufacture in many more places in the world to achieve this [the supply] and you don’t have this hoarding problem that we’re seeing right now. “
The interview was recorded before Melinda and Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, announced that they would end their marriage after 27 years.
The couple has dedicated much of their estimated fortune to $ 124 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which seeks to improve health and reduce poverty around the world.
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