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To: scion who wrote (12521)	1/27/2021 4:52:09 AM
From: scion	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12881

'Crazy and evil': Bill Gates surprised by pandemic conspiracies By Kate Kelland JANUARY 27, 20218:01 AM UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO 3 MIN READ reuters.com LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates says he has been taken aback by the volume of “crazy” and “evil” conspiracy theories about him spreading on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, but said on Wednesday he would like to explore what is behind them. In an interview with Reuters, Gates said the millions of online posts and “crazy conspiracy theories” about him and about top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci had likely taken hold in part because of the combination of a frightening viral pandemic and the rise of social media. “Nobody would have predicted that I and Dr. Fauci would be so prominent in these really evil theories,” Gates said. “I’m very surprised by that. I hope it goes away.” Gates, a billionaire who stepped down as chairman of Microsoft Corp in 2014, has through his philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed at least $1.75 billion to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes support for some makers of vaccines, diagnostics and potential treatments. Since the pandemic began a year ago, millions of conspiracies have spread over the Internet, fuelling misinformation about the coronavirus, its origins and the motives of those working to fight it. They include claims that Fauci and Gates created the pandemic to try and control people, that they want to profit from the virus’ spread, and that they want to use vaccines to insert trackable microchips into people. “But do people really believe that stuff?,” Gates asked. “We’re really going to have to get educated about this over the next year and understand .. how does it change peoples’ behaviour and how should we have minimized this?” EXCITED ABOUT BIDEN Gates praised Fauci and Francis Collins, head of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, as “smart” and “wonderful people”, and said he looked forward to seeing them able to work effectively and speak the truth under the new administration of President Joe Biden. During former President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic, Gates said, it had “sometimes felt like they were the only sane people in the U.S. government.” “I’m excited about the team that Biden has picked” to tackle the health crisis, Gates said. Gates said he was also pleased that under Biden, the United States has rejoined the World Health Organization, and “that he’s appointed smart people, and the fact that Dr. Fauci won’t be suppressed.” (Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Bill Berkrot) reuters.com

To: scion who wrote (12521)	1/28/2021 8:44:02 AM
From: scion	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 12881

WHO says vaccine makers working non-stop to plug supply gap, urges patience By Stephanie Nebehay, John Miller JANUARY 28, 202110:21 AMUPDATED AN HOUR AGO 4 MIN READ reuters.com GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization’s Europe director Hans Kluge said on Thursday vaccine manufacturers were working non-stop to plug shortfalls in supplies to countries struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and urged them not to jostle for deliveries. “Solidarity does not necessarily mean that each country in the world starts (vaccinating) at exactly the same moment ... The good understanding is that no one is safe before everyone is safe,” Kluge told an online news briefing. Asked about delays in expediting Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines to patients across the 27-nation European Union, Kluge and a WHO-Europe vaccination expert, Siddhartha Datta, appealed to governments and manufacturers to cooperate in addressing “teething problems” in the rollout. “The reality is there is a shortage of vaccines...(But) we don’t doubt that manufacturers and producers are working 24-7 to bridge the gaps and we’re confident the delays we are seeing now are going to be made up by extra production in the future,” Kluge said. The WHO reiterated that vaccines should be shared equitably, between poor and rich nations, to help end the pandemic with Datta stressing COVID-19 vaccines were “a global public good”. As Kluge and Datta spoke, Europe’s fight to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies escalated as Britain demanded that it receive all the shots it paid for after the EU asked AstraZeneca to divert supplies from the UK. The EU, whose members are far behind Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States in dispensing vaccines, is scrambling to obtain shots just as the West’s biggest drugmakers slow deliveries to the bloc due to production problems. “We need to be patient, it will take time to vaccinate,” Kluge said, adding that a total of 35 countries in Europe had launched vaccinations with 25 million does administered so far. PANDEMIC PARADOX “This paradox, where communities sense an end is in sight with the vaccine but, at the same time, are called to adhere to restrictive measures in the face of a new threat, is causing tension, angst, fatigue, and confusion. This is completely understandable in these circumstances.” Kluge said continued high rates of transmission and emerging variants of the virus made it urgent to vaccinate priority groups, but acknowledged the rate of vaccine production and distribution was not yet up to expectations. He reiterated the WHO’s stance that “vaccination passports” - proof that somebody has been inoculated - will be important to monitor inoculation coverage and efficacy of shots, but should not be used as a litmus test for allowing people to travel. Asked about WHO’s scrutiny of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, Kluge said he had spoken with Moscow’s ambassador on Wednesday and that he could confirm that data needed by WHO scientists to review the shot was en route to Geneva where the WHO is based. The Russian vaccine is being distributed in Europe including EU member state Hungary as well as elsewhere in the world, even though the European Medicines Agency is not currently reviewing it for approval. Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and John Miller; Editing by Mark Heinrich reuters.com