Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

‘Borders are meaningless to pathogens’: Bill Gates calls on US to donate $4 billion to fund Covid-19 vaccine in poor countries

‘Borders are meaningless to pathogens and becoming less consequential to economies with each passing year’

Justin Vallejo
New York
Tuesday 15 September 2020 19:33 BST
Comments
Fake letters are spreading lies about covid vaccinations in New York
Fake letters are spreading lies about covid vaccinations in New York (AFP via Getty Images)
Leer en Español

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Bill Gates is lobbying Congress to add $4 billion to the coronavirus stimulus packing for vaccines to go to poor countries.

To promote the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's 2020 Goalkeeper Report released this week, the Microsoft founder has gone on a media blitz to push for US funding of Covid-19 vaccines in developing countries.

“The inequity of this -- whether it’s between citizens in the country, blue collar versus white collar, blacks experiencing a higher sickness rate than others -- poor countries can’t borrow money and spend money like the U.S. and other rich countries have,” Mr Gates said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.  

“Almost every dimension of inequity has been accentuated here.”

Mr Gates' Goalkeeper Report estimates that 37 million people have fallen below the poverty line worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic. If found that twice as many Covid-19 deaths would be prevented if vaccines went to the largest countries ahead of the wealthiest countries.

Mr Gates told The New York Times that he would lobby for the additional $4 billion on Congress's coronavirus stimulus package, as he sees the pandemic as a way of achieving his goal to double American foreign aid to developing countries.

“I've got to call these people up and make the pitch to them that this really makes sense — and I totally, totally believe it makes sense," he said.

In a column for The Financial Times, Mr Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, wrote that if wealthy countries hoard vaccines, the coronavirus would continue to spread unchecked and extend the duration of the pandemic.

"We understand the impulse to cut deals with pharmaceutical companies to reserve vaccine," they wrote.

"But we should not mistake a few bilateral transactions for an effective strategy. The pandemic and the economic recession are global, and national solutions are inadequate. Borders are meaningless to pathogens and becoming less consequential to economies with each passing year."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in