Bill Gates: Or there may be a pandemic that is far more serious than COVID-19, and governments should be prepared

The Financial Times reported on January 19 that Bill Gates warned of a pandemic that could be much more serious than the new crown pneumonia and called on governments to invest billions of dollars to prepare for the next global outbreak.

Bill Gates said that while the Omiljun strain is by far some of the most contagious viruses, the world may have to contend with a pathogen that causes much higher mortality or severe illness.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Foundation each pledged $150 million, or $300 million, to the Alliance for Innovation in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) to help CEPI accelerate the development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine to respond to emerging virus variants and prevent or even prevent the next pandemic outbreak.

CEPI is managing to raise $3.5 billion to reduce the time required to develop a new vaccine to just 100 days.