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On May 5 the Biden administration did the truly unexpected. Bucking the gigantic pharmaceutical lobby in Washington, it sided with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by supporting a waiver provision to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) that would set aside some intellectual property rights in order to expand the production of Covid-19 vaccines, which are now manufactured primarily by only a handful of companies in the world’s richest nations.
DHAKA (THE DAILY STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - As much of the world continues to reel under the coronavirus crisis, there is an increasingly frantic scramble for more and more vaccines in countries seeking to protect their people against the disease. One of the possible solutions to the vaccine crunch which is being talked about now, particularly in low and middle-income countries, is a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines under the umbrella of the 164-member World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The patent waiver was proposed jointly by India and South Africa at the WTO in October last year to temporarily do away with the provision relating to not only vaccines but all Covid-related medicines and technologies under the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Interestingly, there has been no mention as to how long the waiver should be in place. More than 100 countries have so far backed the waiver move.
Even after a belated scramble for more doses, India's vaccine programme faces a desperate supply shortage. Fearful in the wake of a rampaging second wave, everyone now wants it, but there are just not enough doses to go around - Issue Date: May 24, 2021
US Trade Representative Tai meets WHO chief, discusses vaccine production, TRIPS waiver ANI | Updated: May 15, 2021 00:53 IST
Washington [US], May 15 (ANI): US trade Representative Katherine Tai on Friday virtually met World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to discuss increasing vaccine production and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver on COVID-19 vaccines for the pandemic.
According to a readout from her office, Tai explained the Biden-Harris administration s support for the waiver of intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines and explained that this fits the United States comprehensive effort to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution around the world.