US announces support for India-led patent waiver on Covid vaccines

Washington DC, May 06: In the major boost to the vaccine production, United States has announced its support to a proposal by India and South Africa at World Trade Organisation (WTO) to temporarily waiver intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines.

 

Katherine Tai, the United States trade representative, announced the Biden administration’s support for waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday afternoon. She said, “This is a global health crisis and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures." She further added that “The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.”

 

She said the main motto of the decision “is to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible." Tai said, “The Administration aims to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible. As our vaccine supply for the American people is secured, the Administration will continue to ramp up its efforts – working with the private sector and all possible partners – to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution. It will also work to increase the raw materials needed to produce those vaccines.”

 

 

 

The US administration will also work towards increasing the raw materials needed to produce those vaccines. Tai's announcement came hours after WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spoke to a closed-door meeting of ambassadors from developing and developed countries that have been wrangling over the issue.

 

Reacting to the announcement, head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called the US decision “historic” and marked “a monumental moment in the fight against COVID19.” It should be noted that Biden had been under intense pressure to waive protections for vaccine manufacturers, especially amid criticism that rich nations were hoarding Covid-19 vaccines.

 

 

 

 

India and South Africa filed a patent waiver proposal in the WTO's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Council on Oct 16, 2020. The waiver will help to speed up Vaccine production in poor countries and will it allow more companies to produce the drug to end the pandemic.

 

"The suspension of rights such as patents, industrial designs, copyright and protection of undisclosed information would ensure "timely access to affordable medical products including vaccines and medicines or to scaling-up of research, development, manufacturing, and supply of medical products essential to combat COVID-19," they said.

 

According to the data of UNICEF, more than 86 percent of vaccine shots around the world have gone into the arms of people in wealthier countries. Lower-income countries like Pakistan have urged the organization to waive those restrictions, however, developing countries like the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, opposed it.

 

Since then the diplomats from the two countries are working on revising the text of the proposal. The fresh proposal is expected to be presented at the TWO in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, in the US this step is a big win for India as it will give a huge boost to the global supply of the Covid-19 vaccines, as it will enable manufacturers around the world to produce the vaccine.

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