Covid 19: Bill Gates' new pandemic prediction while urging countries to maintain vigilance

Billionaire Bill Gates has issued another warning about the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gates first recognised the threat of the pandemic during a 2015 Ted Talk titled: The next outbreak? We're not ready. Almost eight years, and one pandemic later, the tech mogul has issued another warning claiming we still have not seen the worst of the virus.

"We're still at risk of this pandemic generating a variant that would be even more transmissive and even more fatal," he told the Financial Times.

"It's not likely, I don't want to be a voice of doom and gloom, but it's way above a 5 per cent risk that this pandemic, we haven't even seen the worst of it."

Gates' predictions so far have been solid.

In December 2021, he urged communities to brace themselves for the worst part of the pandemic.

"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," he said.

American businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates. Photo / Getty Images

"Omicron is spreading faster than any virus in history. It will soon be in every country in the world."

More than six million people have been killed worldwide from Covid-19 since March 2020, but case numbers and deaths have been dropping in recent weeks.

The 66-year-old is now calling for the development of longer-lasting vaccines while urging world leaders to put funding into preparing the world for future health threats.

Gates is releasing his new book How to Prevent the Next Pandemic on Tuesday.