The world s major vaccine-producing countries are for the first time opening the door to the suspension of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines.
The first was the United States, making the announcement to coincide with the recent G7 ministers meeting in London.
In a U-turn from the Trump administration and in view of the havoc the virus is wreaking in countries such as India, the US has said it supports releasing vaccine patents.
This option has been debated for months at the World Trade Organization (WTO), pushed by countries such as South Africa and India. However, the Biden administration s backing gives a new dimension to the debate.
U.S. President Joe Biden s plan to back a proposed waiver on intellectual property rights to boost global coronavirus vaccine production is a "monumental moment in the fight against #COVID-19".
The Biden administration, siding with some world leaders over the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, came out in favor of waiving intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.
US backs waiving intellectual property rules on vaccines
May. 06, 2021 at 6:00 am
JAMEY KEATEN and ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press
The Biden administration on Wednesday joined calls for more sharing of the technology behind COVID-19 vaccines to help speed the end of the pandemic, a shift that puts the U.S. alongside many in the developing world who want rich countries to do more to get doses to the needy.
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the government’s position, amid World Trade Organization talks about a possible temporary waiver of its protections that would allow more manufacturers to produce the life-saving vaccines.
SHOULD PATENTS be abrogated in the service of humanity? Every person who falls ill or dies today of covid-19 might have been spared had they received just one of the millions of doses that have been available since last December. But their scarcity means that people, notably in poor countries, must wait and suffer.
Why not develop new manufacturing lines in poor countries to increase supply? On May 5th, America said it would support calls to waive the intellectual-property (IP) rights of drug firms on covid-related medical supplies and vaccines, after some countries had petitioned for this at the World Trade Organisation.