Billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates have spearheaded global efforts to strike a blow against the coronavirus as some question the inconclusive results of Gates-funded firm Pfizer's clinical trials.
The couple's foundation will throw an additional $70 million into vaccine development and distribution, they announced Thursday in a press release, adding that Melinda Gates would make the official announcement during the Paris Peace Forum.
The pair have earmarked $50 million for COVAX — an international effort to ensure 92 "low- and middle-income countries" have access to the vaccine — and $20 million for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), which to "start early development for an additional list of promising vaccine candidates."
Gates' opponents have accused the couple's foundation of using third-world populations as "lab rats" for experimental compounds, and pockets of resistance have emerged in South Africa as vaccine trials run by the Gates-backed Gavi (a partnership between Gates Foundation), WHO and the World Bank) have developed in that country. Gavi's stated goal is to increase the delivery of vaccines in poorer nations, writes RT.
