Despite the emergence of new strains of coronavirus and insufficient rates of vaccination, the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic could end as early as next year. Microsoft founder Bill Gates shared this opinion in his personal blog.
He admitted that he did not expect such a contagious variant of delta to appear and did not expect that it would take so long to convince people to get vaccinated and wear masks.
"I hope, however, that the end is not far off. It would be foolish to make another prediction, but I think the acute phase of the pandemic will end in 2022," he wrote.
And while the Omicron strain is a concern, the global community is now better prepared to fight the virus than in previous phases, Gates said.
Earlier this year, the Microsoft founder had already given a prediction about the pandemic: then he suggested that the United States would return to "almost normal life" in the fall: almost all schools would open, some restaurants would work and sporting events would be held. However, for the final victory over the virus, according to Gates, it is necessary to "help the whole world" with vaccinations.
According to WHO, there are more than 265 million people infected with coronavirus worldwide; 5.3 million of them could not be saved. The situation is most difficult in the United States, India, Brazil and the United Kingdom, with Russia ranking fifth on the list.
Vaccination remains the most reliable method of protection against coronavirus. According to Mikhail Murashko, head of the Russian Ministry of Health, the percentage of vaccinated persons among those infected with COVID-19 does not exceed four percent; severe cases are few, while the overwhelming majority of patients in hospitals are unvaccinated. At the end of September, the WHO stated that mortality from SARS-CoV-2 is associated with the refusal of preventive immunization.
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