The Blubber

Per Reuters

Bill Gates is again speaking out about another type of vaccine, the first new tuberculosis vaccine, saying the world would make a "huge mistake" if they didn't fund it. With insufficient funding, the vaccine's late-stage trials could be pushed by over a century.

The Microsoft co-founder is backing the shot development, and in an interview with Reuters, he explained the importance of funding behind the new vaccine.

Gates: "The failure to fund these things… like we can’t go full speed ahead on these vaccine trials - that’s a huge mistake,"

Phase III trials would likely be announced "later this year," according to Gates. Per his estimates, the vaccine trial would cost $700 to $800 million.

Gates: "So even though we'll be a big funder of that, we also need partners to come in and do that with us,"

In 2021, 1.6 million died from TB, while COVID-19 reportedly claimed about 3.9 million deaths that year, per Think Global Health. As for TB, it was reported that ten people catch it annually.

Gates: "It’s always challenging when there's so many budget priorities. But the world has made a huge mistake not investing more in TB."

The Microsoft co-founder has continued his philanthropic work not just in vaccines but also against climate change. Recently in an interview, Gates said that he would continue to use his private jet to campaign against climate change.

On the topic of abstaining from meat consumption, Gates argues that this wouldn't fix the climate change concern. He noted that it was more important to look for new and better solutions to handling meat instead of stopping its consumption completely.

Out of the total food system's global gasses, animal-based food was only responsible for 57% of it, while plants were responsible for 29%.

See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.

Other News:

• Bill Gates has said he’ll carry on using private jets and campaigning on climate change
• Bill Gates argues that climate change won't be fixed by requesting that people no longer eat meat

Resources:

Reuters

Think Global Health