Bill Gates: This is what you need to know about a coronavirus vaccine

U.S. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates laid out what the world needs from a coronavirus vaccine in order to reopen society.

“Realistically, if we’re going to return to normal, we need to develop a safe, effective vaccine. We need to make billions of doses, we need to get them out to every part of the world, and we need all of this happen as quickly as possible,” Gates stated in a blog post.

According to Gates, the vaccine only needs to be at least 70 percent effective to stop the outbreak. He added that a vaccine that’s 60 percent effective is usable, but society would still see localised outbreaks, while anything below 60 percent is unlikely to stop the virus.

Gates said he is optimistic a safe and effective vaccine could be made in 18 months, though it could be as short as 9 months or up to two years.