Bill Gates reveals when he thinks the US will finally be able to defeat the coronavirus

• Bill Gates believes the U.S. won’t be able to conquer the coronavirus pandemic for good until 2022.
• Gates, however, believes life in the U.S. will return to a state of normalcy during the summer of 2021
• Gates previously said that the coronavirus could end up killing millions worldwide as individuals in some countries have been able to access non-coronavirus related medical care.

Earlier this week, the cumulative number of coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. surpassed 200,000. And though the death rate has slowed down slightly, some experts warn we might see a massive spike in new infections and deaths come November as a result of colder weather and the forthcoming flu season.

At this point, trying to predict when the U.S. will finally be able to put the coronavirus behind it remains something of an inexact science. Formulating an educated guess in this regard requires one to make any number of assumptions about the discovery of a vaccine, how effective such a vaccine would be, and how quickly such a vaccine could be administered to the country. This, coupled with the fact that it’s somewhat impossible to know the extent to which Americans will abide by coronavirus safety guidelines, suggests that there are simply too many variables at play to know with any degree of certainty when the coronavirus will become nothing more than a distant memory.

Indeed, that’s the reason why we’ve seen so many conflicting reports about when the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. might finally end. One day you’ll flip on the news and someone is saying the end of 2021, and the next day someone is saying 2022.

Amidst all the conflicting information, one figure worth paying attention to is Bill Gates. And though Gates has educated guesses just like anyone else, he has made several spot-on insights since the pandemic began months back.

Having said that, Gates recently adjusted his own timeline for when the U.S. might finally be able to conquer the coronavirus. Earlier this month, Gates articulated that the U.S. would be able to move past the coronavirus towards the end 2021 — assuming of course that an effective vaccine arrives later this year.

More recently, Gates, while appearing on Fox News Sunday, said that the pandemic may not end until 2022.

“The end of the epidemic, best case, is probably 2022,” Gates said. “But during 2021, the numbers, we should be able to drive them down, if we take the global approach. So, you know, thank goodness vaccine technology was there, that the funding came up, that the companies put their best people on it. That’s why I’m optimistic this won’t last indefinitely.”

Of course, Gates’ prediction hinges on the development of an effective coronavirus vaccine. And, it’s worth noting, the FDA would approve a coronavirus vaccine even if it only worked 50% of the time. What’s more, the first incarnation of the vaccine might require individuals to receive multiple doses. That notwithstanding, Gates expressed confidence that an effective vaccine will receive FDA approval before the end of the year.

A life long Mac user and Apple enthusiast, Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry at large for over 6 years. His writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and most recently, TUAW. When not writing about and analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys catching Improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new TV show addictions, the most recent examples being The Walking Dead and Broad City.