a vaccine manufacturing hub, with the country’s vaccine production capacity being hailed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as “the best asset that the world has” in its battle against COVID-19.
The tech mogul’s comments also prompted backlash owing to India’s ongoing crisis with the disease, as many countries across the world continue to provide assistance, particularly with the supply of oxygen-related supplies, vaccine materials, and therapeutics. The South Asian nation continues to lead the world in average daily reported COVID infections and recorded deaths. It currently accounts for one in every two global infections each day. So far, the country has registered 19.9 million cases and 219,000 virus-induced deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
This is not the first times Gates has been criticised for his involvement in the availability of COVID vaccines around the world. As the pandemic continued to unfold, many people from across the world started pointing fingers at the billionaire entrepreneur for knowingly pushing the production of vaccines towards a profiting business model, instead of promoting vaccine equity, which is critical for the global battle against the pandemic.
