A fragment of an interview with Bill Gates has been taken out of context by social media users, who claim that the billionaire philanthropist "admitted" that COVID-19 vaccines are not very effective.
Versions of the claim have been seen by nearly a million people on Twitter (here and here) and Facebook.
A Twitter post, which has generated numerous reactions, states: "This is a clear admission that mRNA and rAdV vaccines for COVID are not working well."
However, this is a misinterpretation of the words used by Gates, who was speaking with Britain's former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, on November 5th about a range of topics, including COVID-19, foreign aid and climate change.
The interview was organized by Policy Exchange, a British think tank (see the full clip here).
When asked by Hunt about preparedness for the next pandemic, Gates replied: "I would expect that this would cause [research and development] budgets to be focused on other things, compared to what is being done now."
"We haven't been able to get vaccines that completely block the transmission of the virus. We've got vaccines that reduce transmission and that help your health. So we need a new way to make vaccines."
It is true that current COVID-19 vaccines do not stop transmission of the virus (here). However, they are very effective in preventing serious diseases.
Scientists have estimated that COVID-19 vaccines saved 140,000 lives in the United States by May (here).
In Britain, health experts said in June that vaccines had saved 27,000 lives in England alone (here).
Research is also underway on new types of vaccines that could block transmission as well as provide health protection (here).
(Full article at Reuters)