Melinda Gates warned rich countries against stockpiling COVID vaccines

Melinda Gates, wife of MICROSOFT founder Bill Gates (the couple announced their divorce the day before) and co-founder of their joint charitable foundation, urged developed countries not to stockpile coronavirus vaccines as poorer states suffer from a shortage of drugs. Gates said this in an interview with the Financial Times.

She explained that she was disappointed at how little was being done to contain the pandemic in developing countries. In her opinion, developed countries should vaccinate the population “up to a certain point”, and then send the coronavirus vaccine to poorer countries.

“You don’t need to vaccinate everyone, for example, up to teenagers ... before you send doses of the vaccine [to poorer countries],” she explained.

Gates stressed that some developing countries "can't even vaccinate healthcare workers." She acknowledged that Western leaders are under pressure at home, but added that developed countries have a moral and practical argument in favor of supplying a vaccine to those who need it: everyone will ultimately benefit from a global economic recovery.