Bill Gates warns: “We are entering the worst of the pandemic”, although the wave could last “less than three months”

The billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, one of the people who has warned the most in recent decades of the risk of a pandemic, has issued a clear warning about the expansion of the omicron variant: “When it seemed that life was going to return to normal normalcy, we may be entering the worst phase of the pandemic. ” Even so, he maintains a note of optimism, since he believes that this new wave “could last less than three months.”

“Ómicron is going to hit us all closely. It is spreading faster than any virus in the history of mankind,” he said in a message on his Twitter. Scientists are surprised by the reproductive capacity of this variant, and some believe that it surpasses measles in contagion capacity, which would make it the most transmissible virus of all known to modern science.

Even so, the best hope is the data that indicates that this variant could be less harmful to humans than the delta variant, or even the original, although it is still not enough to claim victory. “It will have to be taken seriously until we know more,” says Gates. Even so, even if it is milder, “this could be the worst wave simply because it is very infectious”, and it does not matter if there is a lower percentage of serious cases if the total number of cases is much higher.

For this reason, Gates recommends “taking care of all of us, especially the most vulnerable, whether they live across the street or in another country”, and, above all, “wear a mask, avoid meetings in closed spaces and receive the booster dose of the vaccine”. Although they do not prevent most infections, “vaccines are designed so that people do not get seriously ill or die, and they are doing that job well.”

And he insists that he hopes this is the last big hit of the covid. “The good thing is that omicron moves so fast that once it becomes dominant, the wave should last less than three months. Those months will be bad, but I think that if the right steps are taken, the pandemic could end in 2022 “. And remember that “the more we take care of each other, the sooner it will end.”