Don't Get Your Hopes Up for a Single-Dose Vaccine: Gates

Bill Gates says we'll likely need multiple doses
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 23, 2020 12:05 AM CDT
A Single-Dose COVID Vaccine Is Unlikely: Bill Gates
In this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 file photo, Philanthropist and Co-Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates gestures as he speaks to the audience during the Global Fund to Fight AIDS event at the Lyon's congress hall, central France.   (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP, File)

While scientists hoped to develop a coronavirus vaccine that would require just one dose, that does not appear to be likely, Bill Gates warned Wednesday. "None of the vaccines at this point appear like they'll work with a single dose," he told CBS Evening News. And "if what you're trying to do is block all the transmission, then you need to get 70-80% coverage on a global basis. So it's unbelievably big numbers," he added. If multiple doses are indeed required, that could mean more than 7 billion vaccinations would need to be administered around the globe. Gates' foundation has donated $300 million to the COVID-19 fight. (More coronavirus stories.)

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