On Wednesday, the Biden administration stated it would back waiving patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines following weeks of pressure from the international community as India and other nations face spiking surges in virus cases.
Biden Administration Supports the Move to Expand COVID-19 Vaccine Production
According to Ambassador Katherine Tai, the United States trade representative, "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. 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," reported NBC News.
It added that it would work to increase the raw materials required to produce such vaccines. The World Health Organization's (WHO) director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, lauded the United States' decision as a remarkable moment in the combat against the novel coronavirus. It reflects the "moral leadership" of the White House in the struggle to end the pandemic.
The US has been a significant holdout at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over a proposal to suspend intellectual property protections to increase vaccine production. President Joe Biden also had come under increasing pressure from several congressional Democrats to throw his support for the proposal, reported New York Times.
The president's administration will join negotiations at the WTO to ease international enforcement of several patent laws for coronavirus vaccines. India and South Africa raised this idea, according to Tai, reported Forbes.
The pace of inoculating against COVID-19 in the US is slowing down. In some areas, there are more vaccine shots than people who want them.
The WTO is pondering whether to temporarily renounce the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement. This has effectively provided pharmaceutical firms monopoly control over vaccine production. This potentially locks out poor countries from increasing their supplies.
Over 100 developing countries have prompted the organization to waive such restrictions after a proposal filed jointly by South Africa and India back in October 2020. Humanitarian aid groups and over 400 government officials across the European Union, including the WHO's director-general, have also prompted the WTO to lift intellectual property provisions on equipment and vaccines.
The Biden administration's announcement is now putting pressure on the rich allies of the United States who are currently blocking the waiver. According to Global Justice Now, a UK-based advocacy group, Biden's move could be the start of the end of the vaccine apartheid, and that the endorsement now put the spotlight on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Stock prices for major pharmaceutical firms traded down after America's support of the possible patent waiver was declared. Tai remarked the Biden administration would now negotiate the waiver's text at the WTO convening this week.
