(Bill Gates is co-founder, Microsoft, and currently co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This column first appeared in The Times of India on October 21, 2021)
- Over and over again, I have been impressed by India’s ability to address extremely difficult health challenges at the scale of a subcontinent with almost 1.4 billion people. Now, India has achieved another milestone: Administering more than 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines. This vaccine drive is the largest, and one of the fastest, ever. Estimates suggest that more than 75% of India’s adult population has received a first dose and over 31% has received a second dose; more than 48% of whom are women. This progress is critical not just for India but for the whole world. Given the country’s size and population, its transmission levels directly impact the time frame within which the world can end the crisis phase of this borderless pandemic…