Bill Gates: World Should Be ‘Back to Normal’ by End of 2022

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates predicted this week the world should be “back to normal” by the end of 2022 due to the coronavirus vaccines.

“By the end of 2022 we should be basically completely back to normal,” Gates told Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and television broadcaster TVN24, according to Reuters. “This is an incredible tragedy.”

Gates’ philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $1.75 billion to support vaccines and possible treatments to combat the pandemic worldwide.

Gates made a similar prediction regarding when life may get back to normal in December.

“Certainly, by the summer will be way closer to normal than we are now, but even through early 2022, unless we help other countries get rid of this disease and we get high vaccinations rates in our country, the risk of reintroduction will be there and, of course, the global economy will be slowed down, which hurts America economically in a pretty dramatic way,” the billionaire said in an interview with CNN. “So we will have, starting in the summer, about nine months where a few things like big public gatherings will still be restricted. But we can see now that somewhere between 12 to 18 months, we have a chance, if we manage it well, to get back to normal.”

Gates made headlines in February when he said that he believes “rich countries” such as United States, should switch to consuming 100 percent synthetic beef to combat climate change.

“I don’t think the poorest 80 countries will be eating synthetic meat. I do think all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef. You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time,” the former Microsoft CEO told MIT Technology Review. “Eventually, that green premium is modest enough that you can sort of change the [behavior of] people or use regulation to totally shift the demand.”