Gates calls for 'new way of doing' vaccines since they don't 'block transmission' of COVID

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has called for a "new way of doing the vaccines" against viruses like COVID-19 given that they do not "block" transmission. 

Gates said in an interview with the former UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt, the "economic damage" and death toll from COVID-19 was "completely horrific."

Gates expects the world's experience with COVID-19 to lead to larger research and development budgets to better prepare for a future pandemic. 

“You know, we didn’t have vaccines that block transmission. We got vaccines that help you with your health, but they only slightly reduced transmission,” he said during a Policy Exchange discussion published on Nov. 5. “We need a new way of doing the vaccines. We didn't get much in the way of therapeutics."

Vaccine effectiveness studies provide a growing body of evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines offer similar protection in real-world conditions as they have in clinical trial settings, reducing the risk of COVID-19, including severe illness, among people who are fully vaccinated by 90 percent or more, according to CDC. 

Gates, who warned in a 2014 Ted talk that the world was not ready for the next pandemic, said in 5 years he hopes to write a book, titled, "We are ready for the next pandemic."