Gates of Heaven

There was a remarkable story a few days ago about Bill Gates.  But like so much other news these days, it took a back seat here.  More problematic though is that it hasn't been much picked-up by the national media, although it has by some.  This is the short version.  Speaking of his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he said in an interview that  –

"Because our foundation has such deep expertise in infectious diseases, we've thought about the epidemic, we did fund some things to be more prepared, like a vaccine effort.  Our early money can accelerate things."

Gates said that they would decide on seven of the most-promising vaccines and then building manufacturing facilities to work on them. ‘Even though we'll end up picking at most two of them," Gates added, "we're going to fund factories for all seven, just so that we don't waste time in serially saying, 'OK, which vaccine works?' and then building the factory,’ he said.”

It should be noted that when he says they will be building extra facilities so that they don't waste, what he politely leaves out is that what it will waste is billions of dollars -- but that such a waste in minor compared to the ultimtate benefits it will provide.

There’s a lot more in the article.  The downside is that he says this will take 18 months.  Still, this is leadership. You can read the full article here.

By the way,  just for the sake of perspective, Compare this to Trump the other day saying about the Hydroxychloroquine malaria drug: "There's a possibility, a possibility, and I say it: what do you have to lose?...Take it. I really think they should take it."  And then adding, "Hydroxychloroquine. Try it. If you'd like."

What do you have to lose?  Try it, he says in total ignorance.

Fun Fact:  Among known possible side effects.

Headache with chest pain,

Very slow heart rate

Mood changes

Difficulty breathing

Loss of hearing

Inability to move the eyes

Swollen glands

Death in pregnant women!

And much more.

And it's also important to add this.  The initial attention to the possible use of Hydroxychloroquine came France.  And just two days ago, a hospital in France that was doing experimental testing of the vaccine stopped the tests, specifically because they found the risks of cardiac problems too high.

And add, too, that only yesterday Trump said that national testing, while a good idea, was not necessary for considering when to open up the country for business.  And also that it was announced that federal funding was being pulled back for testing in states.

Which brings us back to a private citizen, Bill Gates, starting a private effort of billions of dollars, even to the point of wasting billions in order to speed the process, in order to trust science and find a way out of this health pandemic -- which the Trump administration knew about as far back as November, when internal reports said it could be a "cataclysmic event," and three months later when he said there were just 15 cases, Trump told the country it would be gone soon "like a miracle."  Adding three weeks later that no one could have known about this, when he himself knew at least by early January.

​Not that perspective is needed for Gates' actions.  It's pretty great on its own.