'Staggering' Consequences: Biden Backs Waiving COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Protections Amid WHO Warning

In a move that may help ramp up global production of the COVID-19 vaccines, especially in poor nations amid the deadly pandemic, the U.S. has announced its support behind a World Trade Organization (WTO) proposal to waive intellectual property rights for the jabs. The (Joe) Biden administration on Wednesday said its aim is “to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.”

In a statement, U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai said that the “extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures." ...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."

This development comes as the WTO is holding negotiations on patent waivers for COVID-19 vaccine technology this week, ABC News reported. In the official statement, Tai said that the U.S. "will actively participate in text-based negotiations" at the international body "to make that happen."

The announcement comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc in India and Brazil, pushing daily infections and deaths to record levels.

Last year, India and South Africa submitted a proposal to the WTO to do away with COVID-19 vaccine patents that would help make jabs cheaper and allow poorer countries to get more doses easily. Over 100 countries backed this proposal, the majority of the lower- and middle-income nations. Human rights bodies and global advocacy groups voiced a similar demand.

But that time, some of the world’s largest economies, including the European Union and wealthy nations such as the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Japan, opposed the WTO negotiations about the proposal. The appeals didn’t result in any positive change so far due to lobbying by big pharmaceutical companies.

South Africa's World Trade Organization counselor Mustaqeem de Gama told NPR that the consequences of not passing the waiver are "staggering, not only on the level of the loss of human lives but also on the economic level."

But with this current announcement by the Biden administration, the situation could change. However, according to ABC News, Tai's statement was seeking a negotiation without endorsing the proposal by India and South Africa.

World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed the Biden administration’s announcement. He tweeted: "This is a monumental moment in the fight against #COVID19. The commitment by @POTUS Joe Biden & @USTradeRep @AmbassadorTai to support the waiver of IP protections on vaccines is a powerful example of leadership to address global health challenges."

However, the negotiations on vaccine patent rights could take weeks and any final decision would need a high level of support, a WTO spokesperson said.

In the present scenario, drug makers who own patents are authorized to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. The lifting of patents would allow the vaccines’ recipes to be shared and there would no longer be an embargo. With this, any company with the required technology and infrastructure can produce vaccines. This would result in affordable, more generic versions of vaccines, and most importantly, would be a big step in overcoming vaccine shortage.