The Biden administration’s decision to stop opposing a proposed COVID-19 waiver of certain intellectual-property rights under World Trade Organization rules is a welcome move. But ending the pandemic also requires scaling up knowledge and technology transfer, as well as public production of vaccine supplies.
NEW DELHI – The Biden administration’s decision to stop opposing a proposed COVID-19 waiver of certain intellectual-property rights under World Trade Organization rules is a welcome move. The US Trade Representative acknowledges that “the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures.” While affirming that it “believes strongly in intellectual property protections,” the Biden administration, “in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.” Already, the US decision may be persuading other rich-country holdouts in Europe and elsewhere to follow suit.
NEW DELHI – The Biden administration’s decision to stop opposing a proposed COVID-19 waiver of certain intellectual-property rights under World Trade Organization rules is a welcome move. The US Trade Representative acknowledges that “the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures.” While affirming that it “believes strongly in intellectual property protections,” the Biden administration, “in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.” Already, the US decision may be persuading other rich-country holdouts in Europe and elsewhere to follow suit.