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A new report paints a bleak picture of the far-ranging impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a major backsliding in the percentage of children around the world getting essential vaccinations, food insecurity on the rise, and a sharp increase in the number of people living in extreme poverty. The first six months of the pandemic saw the number of people living in extreme poverty around the globe rise by 7%, after declining year after year for the past two decades. (Branswell, 9/14)

Vaccination coverage, seen as a good indicator for how health systems are functioning, is dropping to levels last seen in the 1990s, it says. “In other words, we’ve been set back about 25 years in about 25 weeks,” the report says. “What the world does in the next months matters a great deal." Global action to stop the pandemic would prevent illness and deaths caused by Covid-19, but there's more at stake: The crisis sets back strides made in global poverty, HIV transmission, malnutrition, gender equality, education and many more areas. Even if the world manages to get the coronavirus under control soon, it could take years to claw back lost progress. (Paun, 9/14)

The assessment comes as the United States, stung harder by the virus than any other country, is retreating from the global health stage and seems focused primarily on saving itself. Could it ever return to its role as the world’s leader in both competence and generosity? In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Gates devoted a half-hour to explaining why he was optimistic that it would. “It’s my disposition,” he said. “Plus, I’ve got to call these people up and make the pitch to them that this really makes sense — and I totally, totally believe it makes sense.” (McNeil Jr., 9/14)

In an interview with STAT, Gates sounded exasperated at times as he described the badly bungled launch of Covid-19 testing, the enlisting of a neuroradiologist — rather than an epidemiologist or infectious diseases specialist — to help guide the White House’s response decisions, and the recent move to discourage testing of people who have been in contact with a known case but who aren’t yet showing symptoms. “You know, this has been a mismanaged situation every step of the way,” Gates said in the wide-ranging interview. “It’s shocking. It’s unbelievable — the fact that we would be among the worst in the world.” (Branswell, 9/14)

Bill Gates doesn’t believe any of the coronavirus vaccines currently in development are likely to seek U.S. approval before the end of October — something that would be bad news for President Donald Trump, who has hinted at a viable vaccine to counter the pandemic before the country’s November 4 election. “None of the vaccines are likely to seek approval in the U.S. before the end of October,” the billionaire Microsoft-founder-turned-philanthropist told CNBC via video conference last week.  (Turak, 9/15)

Bill Gates expressed confidence that a coronavirus vaccine will be available by 2021. But he remains concerned that doses won’t be made available to lower-income groups, particularly in less developed countries. On a conference call, Gates told reporters that the “next big question” his foundation is thinking through is how to manufacture and distribute the vaccines to those most in need. “It shouldn’t just be the rich countries winning a bidding war,” he said. “Misallocating the vaccine would cause dramatic additional deaths.” (Higgins-Dunn and Farr, 9/14)