My End-of-Year Letter

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1. 2021-12-07 17:43 Bill Gates
   Tony, You may have seen that my Year in Review was published on Gates Notes today. Every year around this time, I like to take stock of the last twelve months. It's a great opportunity to reflect on what has gone well and what hasn't over the past year, and what I'm expecting for the year ahead. I recently sat down to write about some of the things that are top of mind for me as 2021 comes to a close, from when the pandemic might end to how digitization will shape the future. Attached is a copy of the letter. I'll be interested to hear what you think. Happy holidays, Bill Reasons for optimism after a difficult year By Bill Gates When Paul and I were starting Microsoft, we had a vision that personal computers would one day play a significant role in people's lives. But I don't think either of us ever foresaw a future where they would be your only connection to the world. Like many people, there were entire days this year when the only human interaction I had was through a screen. The result has been the most unusual and difficult year of my life. (I suspect a lot of the people reading this might say the same.) 2020 had a brief period of relative normalcy before COVID-19 upended everything. In 2021, the pandemic has dominated our lives since day one. We've all had to adapt to a "new normal," although what that looks like is different for every person. For me, the result has been a year spent mostly online. I had stretches of time without any face-to-face social interaction. If I had a break between meetings, I'd walk around my yard just to see something different. After work, I'd play bridge with friends online or hang out with them over video chat. Once I got vaccinated, I started having some small in-person get-togethers, but my social life is still a lot more digital than it used to be. It's been a strange and disorienting experience. My personal world has never felt smaller than it did over the last twelve months. At the same time, this year was a reminder that our world is more connected than ever. 2021 was full of monumental events with global repercussions, including extreme weather events, the ongoing effects of the pandemic, and America's withdrawal from Afghanistan. Every time you looked at the news, you were reminded of just how significantly something happening on the other side of the world could affect you at home. (Just look at how one container ship stuck in the Suez Canal for a week caused shipping delays around the world.) It's never been clearer that tackling big problems requires people working together across borders and sectors. (Left) People rest in a cooling center in Portland, Oregon, during a heatwave in June. (Kathryn Elsesser/AFP) (Right) A large cargo ship became lodged in the Suez Canal, halting global commerce for six days in March. (Songphol Thesakit/Getty Images) MY END-OF-YEAR LETTER 2021 December 7, 2021 Collaboration has been a constant theme with my work this year. The foundation continues to take up the bulk of my time, and I'm blown away by the amazing progress made by our team and our partners in 2021. Most weeks, we have a virtual get-together with everyone who's working on our COVID response. Each meeting focuses on a different topic, like disease modelling or vaccine distribution. It's inspiring to hear how groups are working together to find solutions. Although COVID-19 has been a huge focus, the foundation continues to make progress in other areas. Our U.S. Program is working with partners to help students and teachers navigate the strange new world of pandemic-era education, and my colleagues working on gender equality are fighting for a more equitable global recovery. The global health and development teams have found creative ways to protect advancements on diseases like polio, TB, and HIV and continue progress in reducing childhood mortality. (This year's Goalkeepers Report outlines how the pandemic hasn't set us back as badly as feared.) One of the most exciting things that happened was WHO approval of the first malaria vaccine. Malaria kills nearly 650,000 people every year--more than half of them children under five-- and remains one of the leading causes of death in low-income countries. We funded late-stage clinical development of the vaccine between 2001 and 2015 and continue to support research into how to optimize its effectiveness. This new vaccine is giving us insights into how to develop second-generation vaccines and preventative tools that can be used on all ages, are even more effective, and can help us reach the goal of eradication. This year also saw the start of a new chapter in my climate work. I released my book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster and launched the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst and Fellows programs to support financing, producing, and buying new clean-energy technologies. The reason I felt confident enough to expand our efforts so significantly was the incredible progress I've seen from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, where we are now supporting over 70 amazing companies. I've been working on climate and energy issues for a long time, but the area has become a bigger part of my focus over the last twelve months. I also found time to work on some nonfoundation and non-climate-related areas, like Alzheimer's research and expanding free educational resources for teachers. Even though I think the things I've been working on are by far the most interesting part of my year, I know a lot of people are curious about a subject closer to home: my divorce. Melinda and I continue to run our foundation together and have found a good new working rhythm, but I can't deny that it's been a year of great personal sadness for me. Adapting to change is never easy, no matter what it is. I've been impressed by how resilient my loved ones--especially my kids--have been in this challenging time. My family also experienced a lot of changes beyond what you probably saw in the news. My oldest daughter, Jenn, got married this fall, and her wedding was the highlight of my year. Our youngest, Phoebe, graduated from high school and went off to college. Since my son Rory is also away at school, that means I'm officially an empty nester. The house is a lot quieter without a bunch of teenagers hanging around all the time. I miss having them at home, even if it is easier to focus on reading a book or getting work done these days. er Come, visit us WE ARE REOPENING We follow precautionary measures for your safety 2021 has been a year of big transitions for me, but it hasn't changed why I love the work I do. As it comes to a close, I wanted to sit down and write about four things that are top of mind heading into 2022: the latest progress toward ending the COVID-19 pandemic, why decreased trust in institutions might be the biggest obstacle standing in our way, what the climate conversation can teach us about making progress, and how the rapid digitization brought on by the pandemic will shape our future. Why I'm hopeful the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is finally in sight In my previous end-of-year post, I wrote that I thought we'd be able to look back and say that 2021 was an improvement on 2020. While I do think that's true in some ways--billions of people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and the world is somewhat closer to normal-- the improvement hasn't been as dramatic as I hoped. More people died from COVID in 2021 than in 2020. If you're one of the millions of people who lost a loved one to the virus over the last twelve months, you certainly don't think this year was any better than last. Because of the Delta variant and challenges with vaccine uptake, we're not as close to the end of the pandemic as I hoped by now. I didn't foresee that such a highly transmissible variant would come along, and I underestimated how tough it would be to convince people to take the vaccine and continue to use masks. I am hopeful, though, that the end is finally in sight. It might be foolish to make another prediction, but I think the acute phase of the pandemic will come to a close some time in 2022. (Left) A barista announces the reopening of her coffee shop. (Getty Images) (Right) Employees practice safety procedures at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand. (Lillian Suwanrumpha/Getty Images) There's no question that the Omicron variant is concerning. Researchers--including a network called GIISER that is supported by our foundation--are working urgently to learn more about it, and we'll have a lot more information (like how well vaccines or previous infection protect you against it) soon. But here's what we do know: The world is better prepared to tackle potentially bad variants than at any other point in the pandemic so far. We caught this variant earlier than we discovered Delta because South Africa has invested heavily in genomic sequencing capabilities, and we're in a much better position to create updated vaccines if they're needed. It's troubling any time a new variant of concern emerges, but I'm still hopeful that, at some point next year, COVID-19 will become an endemic disease in most places. Although it is currently

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