Associated Press
GENEVA Several world leaders Thursday praised the U.S. call to remove patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help poor countries obtain shots. But the proposal faces a multitude of hurdles, including resistance from the pharmaceutical industry.
Nor is it clear what effect such a step might have on the campaign to vanquish the outbreak.
Activists and humanitarian institutions cheered after the U.S. reversed course Wednesday and called for a waiver of intellectual property protections on the vaccine. The decision ultimately is up to the 164-member World Trade Organization, and if just one country votes against a waiver, the proposal will fail.
Associated Press
GENEVA Several world leaders Thursday praised the U.S. call to remove patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help poor countries obtain shots. But the proposal faces a multitude of hurdles, including resistance from the pharmaceutical industry.
Nor is it clear what effect such a step might have on the campaign to vanquish the outbreak.
Activists and humanitarian institutions cheered after the U.S. reversed course Wednesday and called for a waiver of intellectual property protections on the vaccine. The decision ultimately is up to the 164-member World Trade Organization, and if just one country votes against a waiver, the proposal will fail.
Health Experts Say Expanding Vaccine Access Requires More Than Patent Waivers
D.C. Health Nurse Manager Ashley Hennigan fills a syringe with a dose of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine during a walk-up clinic at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts outdoor Reach area on May 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Biolyse Pharma Corp., which makes injectable cancer drugs, was gearing up to start making generic biologic drugs, made from living organisms. Then the pandemic hit.
Watching the covid death toll climb, the company decided its new production lines and equipment could be converted to making vaccines for poorer countries without the means to do so.
After shift on vaccine patents, US backs freer flow of components
Issued on:
07/05/2021 - 07:12 At least 50 components, perhaps as many as 100, go into the jabs including items like glass vials for shipping and syringes in addition to the vaccines ingredients themselves MANDEL NGAN AFP/File 4 min
Paris (AFP)
The new US position in support of lifting patents on Covid-19 vaccines has taken attention away from an equally significant change by Washington, which plans to open up trade in the raw materials used to make them.
After having recently taken heat for blocking such exports, Commerce Secretary Katherine Tai said Wednesday that the US government would work to increase the raw materials needed to produce those vaccines .