Gates Foundation to give $150 million more to combat COVID-19 globally

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced an additional USD 150 million of grant for the global fight against the deadly coronavirus, raising its total funding to more than USD 250 million.

The foundation also called on world leaders to unite in a global response to COVID-19, that has infected over 2 million people worldwide, to ensure equitable access to diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.

"It is increasingly clear that the world's response to this pandemic will not be effective unless it is also equitable, Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda Gates said in a statement on Wednesday.

We have a responsibility to meet this global crisis with global solidarity. In addition to contributing to the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, these funds will support efforts against COVID-19 in low-and-middle-income countries, where local leaders and healthcare workers are doing heroic work to protect vulnerable communities and slow the spread of the disease."