Australia hesitant to back plan to let poor countries make cheap copies of Covid vaccines Elias Visontay © Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Francis Kokoroko/Reuters
International aid groups, health organisations and unions are pleading with the Morrison government to support a World Trade Organization proposal designed to allow developing countries to make and sell cheap copies of patented vaccines, to achieve a quicker end to the global pandemic.
The WTO proposal would suspend Covid vaccine patents for successful jab formulas invented by pharmaceutical giants for the duration of the pandemic so poorer countries could acquire more affordable doses faster.
The Australian government has been urged to support the proposal to be put to member nations at a key WTO meeting on Wednesday and Thursday marking the anniversary of the pandemic’s declaration, however trade minister Dan Tehan has indicated that Australia will oppose the waiver for vaccine patents un
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Health worker in Papua New Guinea. Image tweeted by Natalie Whiting, ABC PNG Correspondent
Medical research institutes, including Burnet, have joined NGOs and Church groups in seeking strong, additional support for PNG’s COVID-19 emergency from the Australian Government, warning the intervention is “urgently” needed.
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The Australian Council for International Development, ACFID, of which Burnet is a committed member, has welcomed the recent indication in Senate Estimates that the Australian Government will move beyond the immediate 8,480 allocation of vaccines to PNG.
ACFID CEO Marc Purcell said comments by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Senator, the Hon. Marise Payne, that all options are on the table for supplying vaccines to PNG, including the use of domestically manufactured AstraZeneca vaccines, was positive, but the need was urgent.