Bill Gates said the chance of another pandemic in the next four years, and the world’s lack of preparedness for it, is a source of great concern.
Newsweek has contacted the Gates Foundation, via email, for comment on behalf of the Microsoft co-founder.
Why It Matters
Concerns about the next pandemic, and how prepared we are for it, have been rife since the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the world into unprecedented times in 2020. Gates, who has long been vocal about the threats of outbreaks of disease, is a major player in global health policies and initiatives.
What To Know
Gates said he believes there is a 10-15 percent chance of a natural pandemic hitting in the next four years in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
He said: “It’d be nice to think we’re actually more ready for that than we were last time, but so far we’re not.”
When the reporter challenged him on this, he said: “We’re absolutely not [ready].”
Gates explained: “People, rather than having a consensus about what tools are missing, are mostly still replaying the various mistakes that were made. So I wouldn’t say that we’re as far along as you’d expect after trillions of dollars and millions of lives have been lost.”
This is not the first time Gates has criticized how the world has handled the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2022, he wrote a book called How To Predict the Next Pandemic which called for stronger quarantine policies, more investment in disease monitoring and increased vaccine research and development.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, leaving the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral on January 9, 2025, in Washington D.C. Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, leaving the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral on January 9, 2025, in Washington D.C. AP
CIA BacksCOVID Lab Leak Theory
It comes as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed the theory that the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment released on Saturday by order of new Director John Ratcliffe.
While the CIA now thinks it is most likely that the virus originated from a laboratory, a spokesperson for the agency said it “continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible.”
Ratcliffe, who has long said he believes the virus escaped from a Chinese lab, had told Breitbart News on Friday that he no longer wanted the CIA to “be off the sidelines” of the debate around the origin of COVID-19. Tracing back the origin of the pandemic to a Chinese source could deeply affect Washington-Beijing relations.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China’s U.S. embassy, told The Associated Press on Saturday: “We firmly oppose the politicization and stigmatization of the source of the virus, and once again call on everyone to respect science and stay away from conspiracy theories.”
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