Bill Gates says people may need a third dose of vaccination and possibly more

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates is warning that a third injection of the COVID-19 vaccine may be needed. Gates told CBS News that an additional dose would be used to combat the spread of new variants.

The first crop of vaccines was designed to provide immunity after two doses administered one month apart.

The news comes amid concerns that current vaccines are less effective against new variants developed in Brazil and South Africa.

“The discussion now is: do we just need to get super-high coverage of the current vaccine or do we need a third dose that is the same or do we need a modified vaccine?” Gates told “CBS Evening News” anchor and editor-in-chief Norah O’Donnell.

Gates funded studies in South Africa to determine whether three different vaccines, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax, are as effective against new variants as they are against the strain that first appeared last year.

“AstraZeneca, in particular, has a challenge with the variant. And the other two, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax, are a little less effective, but still effective enough that we can get them out as quickly as possible while studying this idea. to adjust the vaccine, “said Gates.

Pharmaceutical companies are already discussing whether to make new, tailored vaccines that better protect against new variants, just as they do every year with flu vaccines.

“All five companies that have vaccines in the United States are looking to make this change and add it so that people who have already received two injections may need a third,” he said. “I think it is reasonably likely that we will have a vaccine adjusted just to be absolutely sure that, as these variants reach the United States, they are not escaping vaccine protection.”

Comments from the founder of Microsoft were made while President Biden addressed the issue of availability of the vaccine at a CNN city hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night.

Biden told Anderson Cooper that every American who wants to get the vaccine will receive it “by the end of July this year”.

Biden said: “We arrived in office, there were only 50 million doses available. Now, by the end of July, we will have more than 600 million doses, enough to vaccinate all Americans.”

The president said his government had negotiated with Pfizer and Moderna to increase the vaccine supply in the country from 200 million to 600 million doses.

“We made them move the time forward because we used national defense law to help with manufacturing, get more equipment and so on,” said Biden.

Studies show that an increasing number of Americans intend to get vaccinated. According to The Boston Herald, “From September to December, those with a” high probability “of receiving the COVID-19 vax increased from 39.4% to 49.1% among adults. Meanwhile, the non-intention for vax decreased from 38.1% to 32.1%. “