Support grows for easing COVID-19 vaccine patent rules, but hurdles remain France has now joined the United States in calling for the easing of patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines. Other countries, including Canada, China and Russia, are at least willing to take part in WTO talks into a proposal to waive international protection rules. Social Sharing The Associated Press · Posted: May 06, 2021 1:33 PM ET | Last Updated: May 6 Director general of the Ghana Health Service Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Accra, Ghana on March 2, 2021. Just over 20 million vaccine doses have been administered across Africa, which counts some 1.3 billion people.(Francis Kokoroko/Reuters)