Under the title "Bill Gates Sets the Anticipated Date... This is the Date the Pandemic Will End," the Al Arabiya website reported that as the world becomes preoccupied again with the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, Bill Gates has stepped into the spotlight once more, heralding the date for the end of the pandemic that has claimed millions of lives worldwide. In an "annual review" published on his personal blog, according to Bloomberg, yesterday, the Microsoft founder predicted the end of the severity of COVID-19 in the year 2022.
**Annual Vaccination Every Fall**
He also estimated that vaccinations would become "annual" every fall, utilizing a combined vaccine against both influenza and COVID-19. The fourth richest person in the world expressed his disappointment with the pandemic developments of 2021, considering that there hasn't been significant improvement in combating the epidemic, noting that the current year saw an increase in the number of deaths compared to the previous year.
Moreover, he expressed his astonishment at the level of rejection faced by vaccination and mask-wearing campaigns, indicating that he did not anticipate some of the reactions that occurred regarding this issue.
**What About Omicron?**
Regarding the new variant, which the World Health Organization announced yesterday to be more transmissible but less deadly, he stated: "There is no doubt that the Omicron variant is a concern... but the world is now better prepared to deal with potential variants than ever before." Additionally, Gates anticipated that societies would continuously witness the emergence of similar viruses and pandemics, but he confirmed that new medicines will emerge to handle any future pandemic. He also believed that vaccines and antiviral medications would reduce coronavirus and other viruses by 50%.
It is noteworthy that Gates' company, Merck, had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its product Molnupiravir, a medication for treating COVID-19 patients.
