Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates predicted that after the omicron wave of Covid-19 outbreaks dies down, countries will see fewer positive cases for the rest of the year, ultimately creating an environment where Covid could be treated like seasonal flu, the billionaire philanthropist said during a live Q&A session on Twitter.
A country should record “far fewer” cases of Covid-19 throughout the rest of the year after omicron “goes through” it, in which case Covid can be “treated more like seasonal flu,” he said.
Last month, Gates said the United States “could be entering the worst part” of the pandemic as Covid cases were surging across the country, and predicted the wave of infections to last three months.
Most scientists have predicted Covid-19 will eventually become an endemic, like flu, but the World Health Organization has said now is not the right time to start treating Covid-19 as if it were already endemic, citing “huge amount of uncertainty” and the quickly evolving nature of the virus.
Gates said that in order to end the pandemic, the world needs vaccines that protect people from reinfection and provide protection for many years as fully vaccinated Americans are reporting breakthrough cases.
A variant with higher transmissibility than omicron is “not likely” to emerge, he said without elaborating further.
