US agrees to waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines
The Biden administration has said the US would waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, doing its bit to help developing countries combat the virus.
President Joe Biden, who had backed such a move during the 2020 presidential campaign, threw his support behind the World Trade Organisation proposal, which needed US backing.
The US and several other countries had previously blocked negotiations at the WTO about the waiver proposal led by India and South Africa, which have suffered a huge toll from the coronavirus.
Mr Biden's chief trade negotiator, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, said they would temporarily waive certain IP rights to help countries respond to the pandemic.
“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures," Ms Tai said in a statement.
"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."
Ms Tai said the US would participate in negotiations at the WTO to ensure the waiver could happen, but cautioned it would take time.
WTO decisions require a consensus of all members.
Reacting to the news, Rachel Silverman, a global health expert with the Center for Global Development, said: “The Biden Administration’s support of the TRIPS waiver signals re-engagement in the number one global issue of our times: ending the Covid-19 pandemic, everywhere.
“Now it’s time for the administration to lead an all-hands-on deck effort to translate this first step into real, practical impact via an enormous ramp up in funding, technology transfer, and political leadership.”
Proponents, including Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, say that such waivers are part of the WTO toolbox and insist there's no better time to use them than during the once-in-a-century pandemic that has taken 3.2 million lives, infected more than 437 million people and devastated economies.
"This is a monumental moment in the fight," Dr Ghebreyesus tweeted. "The White House's support for the temporary waiving IP on #COVID19 vaccines reflects the wisdom and moral leadership the US to support #VaccineEquity and work to end this pandemic."
More than 100 countries have come out in support of the proposal, and a group of 110 members of Congress - all fellow Democrats of Mr Biden - sent him a letter last month that called on him to support the waiver.
The argument, part of a long-running debate about intellectual property protections, centres on lifting patents, copyrights and protections for industrial design and confidential information to help expand the production and deployment of vaccines during supply shortages.
The aim is to suspend the rules for several years, just long enough to beat down the pandemic.
The issue has become more pressing with a surge in cases in India, the world's second-most populous country and a key producer of vaccines - including one for Covid that relies on technology from Oxford University and British-Swedish pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca.
