The Biden administration will support a proposal to waive Covid-19 vaccine patent rights.
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In a significant move to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S. government agreed to support a controversial proposal to temporarily waive intellectual property rights for vaccines in a bid to increase global supplies of desperately needed doses.
The proposal, which was first introduced before the World Trade Organization last fall by South Africa and India, would cover patents, industrial designs, copyrights, and protection of trade secrets. Ultimately, a waiver would make it easier for countries that permit compulsory licensing to allow a manufacturer to export vaccines. The move came amid growing concern that low- and middle-income countries were being left out after wealthy nations reached deals with vaccine makers.
India Covid-19 fact check: Are more young people falling ill? Are vaccinated people getting infected? cnn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cnn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Vaccine rollout continues
As of yesterday evening local time, 154,854,096 vaccine doses had been administered.
A total of 27,889,889 people had received their second doses equal to 2.1 per cent of India s population of 1.3 billion people, according to a health ministry news release.
This figure is significantly lower than the United States, where 29.8 per cent of the population are fully immunised.
India launched its vaccination drive on January 16, and expanded the program to everyone above the age of 18 from today.
However, a number of states are warning they have no shots to give.
A health worker wearing protective gear collects a nasal swab sample of an election counting agent to test for the COVID-19 at Siliguri college counting centre in Siliguri.(Diptendu Dutta/AFP/Getty Images)
India coronavirus: Every adult is now eligible for vaccine shots, but some states say they have none to offer msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.