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BRUSSELS The European Union is willing to discuss a proposal, now backed by the United States, to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.
The head of the EU executive said the bloc’s vaccination effort was accelerating, with 30 Europeans being inoculated per second, while exporting more than 200 million vaccine doses to the rest of the world – contrasting with limited sharing of vaccines by the United States and Britain.
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The European Union is willing to discuss a proposal to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday, as drugmakers fought their ground and their share prices slipped.
US President Joe Biden voiced support on Wednesday for a waiver in a reversal of the US position, and his top trade negotiator, Katherine Tai, swiftly endorsed negotiations at the World Trade Organization.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called Mr Biden s move a monumental moment in the fight against #COVID19 on Twitter, and said it reflected the wisdom and moral leadership of the United States .
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Brussels, May 6
The European Union is willing to discuss a proposal, now backed by the United States, to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.
The head of the EU executive said the bloc s vaccination effort was accelerating, with 30 Europeans inoculated per second, while exporting more than 200 million vaccine doses to the rest of the world. The EU is also ready to discuss any proposals that addresses the crisis in an effective and pragmatic manner, von der Leyen said in a speech to the European University Institute in Florence. That s why we are ready to discuss how the U.S. proposal for a waiver on intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines could help achieve that objective.
Follow RT on The European Commission president has said Brussels is prepared to look at a proposal to scrap intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines in an effort to accelerate global vaccinations against the virus.
Speaking on Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would be willing to look at proposals to waive Covid-19 vaccine patents after the US gave its backing to the plan on Wednesday.
“The EU is also ready to discuss any proposals that addresses the crisis in an effective and pragmatic manner,” von der Leyen said in a speech to the European University Institute in Florence.