Bill Gates says bars and restaurants should 'sadly' be closed for 4-6 months, no return to ‘normal’ until 2022

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes a return to “normal” life is further down the road for the US than people expect, despite a Covid-19 vaccine being approved and distributed this week.

Conceding that by the summer of 2021, the US should be “way closer to normal than we are now,” Gates, who has donated millions to vaccination efforts through his foundation, believes a full return to normal will likely not be possible until after 2022.

The billionaire told CNN on Sunday that “unless we help other countries get rid of this disease” and see “high vaccination rates” within the US, the “risk of reintroduction” will be possible. 

“Big public gatherings” should continue to be banned and most bars and restaurants around the country should “sadly” be closed to curb infection rates, according to Gates. A real return to normal, he theorized, is possible only after 12 to 18 months “if we manage it well.”

Gates also expressed concern about President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to concede the presidential election, which he claims is “complicating” vaccine distribution.

“The transition is complicating [things,] but the new administration is willing to rely on actual experts and not attack those experts," the tech mogul said in a swipe at the president. 

Gates did not specify what “complications” are possible. A vaccine has already been approved by both the FDA and CDC and begun distribution. People can expect to start receiving it as early as Monday, according to CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield.

Gates has become a go-to expert for the mainstream media when it comes to Covid-19 thanks to his donations to vaccination efforts, as well as a viral video from 2015 where he appears to predict a similar pandemic that the world would be unprepared for.

Gates’ promotion of vaccines and lockdowns, however, has earned him plenty of critics, especially from conservatives as such restrictions have become more and more controversial.

“Reject this tyrant,” reporter Ian Miles Cheong tweeted in response to Gates’ latest interview.

“Bill Gates wants to destroy America,” conservative filmmaker Nick Searcy added. 

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