It was speculated in March that the 2020 tennis season “might be wiped out,” reported ESPN, noting that it was suggested tennis only resume when “players can get vaccinated against the coronavirus.”

“International circuit = players of all nationalities plus management, spectators and people from the 4 corners of the world who bring these events to life. No vaccine = no tennis,” the two-time Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo said via Twitter.

As noted by ESPN, “Wimbledon has been cancelled for the first time since World War II, while the French Open, originally due to be held from May 24-June 7, was rescheduled for Sept. 20-Oct. 4, shortly after the end of the US Open.”

“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation called Wednesday for global cooperation to ready COVID-19 vaccines for 7 billion people, while offering an additional US$150 million toward developing therapeutics and treatments for the virus,” Science Alert reported Saturday. “While it is likely to take as many as 18 months to develop and fully test a safe coronavirus vaccine, global authorities and businesses need to start now on plans to manufacture it, said foundation chief executive Mark Suzman.”

“It’s normal to have, at maximum, hundreds of millions of doses manufactured,” Mr. Suzman said, adding, “When you are dealing with a novel pathogen like COVID-19, as and when we get to identifying a successful vaccine, we are going to need billions of doses.”

“There are 7 billion people on the planet,” he continued. “We are going to need to vaccinate nearly every one. There is no manufacturing capacity to do that.”

The foundation, headed by billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, are adding $150 million to the $100 million it pledged in February to fight the coronavirus globally, Science Alert noted.

“Much of the money is to support the development of COVID-19 diagnostic tests, therapeutic treatments and vaccines, and to make them globally available,” Suzman said, according to Science Alert. Money will also be spent “helping the poorest countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, which lack supplies, equipment and infrastructure to counter the new epidemic.”

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