Bill Gates cancels holiday plans due to omicron, believes pandemic will end in 2022
The Microsoft co-founder says the first part of the new year could be bad, but believes an omicron wave could last less than three months.
Bill Gates tweeted a series of thoughts on the state of the pandemic.
Bill Gates usually shares his thoughts on his GatesNotes blog, but on Tuesday, Gates wrote a multi-post Twitter thread sharing his opinions on the current state of the pandemic. The Microsoft co-founder mixed the personal and the professional, revealing that friends have come down with the omicron variant, and his own holiday is looking very different.
"Just when it seemed like life would return to normal, we could be entering the worst part of the pandemic," Gates wrote. "Omicron will hit home for all of us. Close friends of mine now have it, and I've canceled most of my holiday plans."
Just when it seemed like life would return to normal, we could be entering the worst part of the pandemic. Omicron will hit home for all of us. Close friends of mine now have it, and I’ve canceled most of my holiday plans.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 21, 2021
Gates reiterated what many experts have said, that there are many unknowns about the omicron variant.
"Even if it's only half as severe as Delta, it will be the worst surge we have seen so far because it's so infectious," he wrote.
The big unknown is how sick omicron makes you. We need to take it seriously until we know more about it. Even if it’s only half as severe as delta, it will be the worst surge we have seen so far because it’s so infectious.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 21, 2021
He encouraged readers to continue to wear masks, avoid big indoor gatherings, and get vaccinated and boosted. And while vaccinated people can and will get breakthrough cases, the shots will protect them against the worst of the disease.
"Vaccines are designed to prevent people from getting seriously ill or dying and are doing that well," he wrote.
Yet Gates still has hope for a brighter future by spring.
The first few months of 2022 "could be bad," he wrote, but because the variant moves quickly, a wave could last less than three months.
"Those few months could be bad, but I still believe if we take the right steps, the pandemic can be over in 2022," he wrote, adding in another tweet that "it won't be like this forever."
If there’s good news here, it’s that omicron moves so quickly that once it becomes dominant in a country, the wave there should last less than 3 months. Those few months could be bad, but I still believe if we take the right steps, the pandemic can be over in 2022.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 21, 2021
Earlier this month, Gates wrote on his blog that 2021 was the hardest year of his life, citing his divorce from Melinda French Gates, the loneliness of the pandemic, and his transition into empty-nester dad.