Waiving intellectual property rights could help poor countries get vaccines By The Washington Post Miriam Berger As the coronavirus pandemic rages, World Trade Organization representatives have periodically gathered around a virtual table and clashed over how to more equitably increase global access to vaccines. On one side are the United States and other mainly wealthy Western democracies, where the major pharmaceutical companies developing key vaccines and related medical technologies are based. They want to maintain the status quo, in which the trade secrets of their vaccines - i.e. intellectual property - remain in their hands to preserve profits and the incentive for future development.