By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – U.S. billionaire Bill Gates, whose foundation supports the development of vaccines, has warned of a new global pandemic that could wipe out more than 10 percent of the world’s population of over 8 billion people.
“The [recent] COVID-19 pandemic killed 1 percent, that’s millions of people. The next one can kill greater than 10 percent,” more than 800 million people, he told prominent journalist Katie Couric in a live-streamed interview at the famed Strand Bookstore in New York City.
“We should be prepared for the next pandemic; the next pandemic could be far worse,” Gates stressed in remarks reviewed by Worthy News on Wednesday.
His Gates Foundation backed the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which critics claim have, at least in some cases, caused more harm than good.
However, Gates told Couric, “The [COVID-19] vaccine saved millions of lives. [U.S.] President [Donald J.] Trump was the one that accelerated the availability of that vaccine.”
Trump previously dismissed claims that COVID-19 vaccines are broadly unsafe while asserting that his role in the development of the jabs may have “saved 100 million lives.”
MILLIONS IMPACTED
Gates, 69, made clear that he hopes the current Trump administration would not abandon the world’s most vulnerable people
There is concern within the Gates Foundation that Trump’s recent freeze on foreign aid halted funding for HIV/AIDS disease programs, potentially impacting the health of over 20 million people, including 500,000 children.
Although subsequent waivers from the U.S. State Department reportedly enabled some work to continue, funding and legal approvals remain stalled.
Gates and Couric suggested that without treatment, “millions” face severe illness or premature death and threaten to undo “years of progress” against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, a potentially deadly disease.
They fear it could potentially foster drug-resistant strains – “an outcome with global repercussions,” including in the United States.
Trump said that the winding down of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) targets non-essential “woke” programs and that necessary aid will eventually continue.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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