Covid vaccine production in poor countries: ex-leaders, Nobel winners urge US to waive patents
Employees pack boxes containing vials of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at the Serum Institute of India. Photo: AP
Reuters, London
Reuters, London
More than 60 former heads of state, including former leaders of Britain and France, and over 100 Nobel Prize winners called on US President Joe Biden to back a waiver of intellectual property rules for Covid-19 vaccines.
A waiver would boost vaccine manufacturing and speed up the response to the pandemic in poorer countries which otherwise might have to wait years, they said in a joint letter to Biden sent to news organisations on Wednesday.
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Over 60 former leaders, 100 Nobel Prize winners urge Biden to back India s COVID-19 vaccine waiver plea
A waiver would boost vaccine manufacturing and speed up the response to the pandemic in poorer countries which otherwise might have to wait years, they said in a joint letter to Biden sent to news organisations on Wednesday
Reuters | April 15, 2021 | Updated 09:27 IST
US President Joe Biden
More than 60 former heads of state, including former leaders of Britain and France, and over 100 Nobel Prize winners called on US President Joe Biden to back a waiver of intellectual property rules for Covid-19 vaccines as proposed by India and South Africa.
HeadlineApr 15, 2021
One hundred seventy-five former heads of state and Nobel laureates are calling on President Biden to back a waiver on World Trade Organization intellectual property rules for COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. Nine out of 10 people in most poor countries likely will not receive a vaccine this year, according to the open letter, but an IP waiver would “expand global manufacturing capacity, unhindered by industry monopolies that are driving the dire supply shortages blocking vaccine access.” Signatories include former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and economist Joseph Stiglitz. Separately, a coalition of 250 organizations, including Amnesty International, Public Citizen and Doctors Without Borders, issued a similar plea to the head of the World Trade Organization. The fate of the international efforts could be decided on May 5 at the next major meeting between WTO members.
Nearly 100 Nobel Prize winners, former world leaders urge Biden to back COVID vaccine waiver wionews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wionews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.