GENEVA – France joined the United States on Thursday in supporting an easing of patent and other protections on COVID-19vaccines that could help poorer countries get more doses and speed the end of the pandemic. While the backing from two countries with major drug makers is important, many obstacles remain.
The move to support waiving intellectual property protections on vaccines under World Trade Organization rules marked a dramatic shift for the United States and drew cheers from activists, complaints from Big Pharma, and a lot of questions about what comes next. Washington had previously lined up with many other developed nations opposed to the idea floated by India and South Africa in October.
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WRAPUP 3-EU supports COVID vaccine patent waiver talks, but critics say won t solve scarcity Reuters 7 hrs ago
(Adds U.S. secretary of state, analyst comment, details on shortcomings of plan; updates shares) U.S. says waiver would increase vaccine manufacturing Critics say patent restrictions not responsible for scarcity Drugmaker stocks mostly recover after sharp drop
By Philip Blenkinsop and Carl O Donnell
BRUSSELS/NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - The European Union on Thursday backed a U.S. proposal to discuss waiving patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, but drugmakers and some other governments opposed the idea, saying it would not solve global inoculation shortages.
May 6, 2021
In this April 8 file photo, a Northwell Health registered nurses fills a syringe with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a pop up vaccination site at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center in the Staten Island borough of New York. 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. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
GENEVA (AP) France joined the United States today in supporting an easing of patent and other protections on COVID-19 vaccines that could help poorer countries get more doses and speed the end of the pandemic. While the backing from two countries with major drug makers is important, many obstacles remain.