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Biden Facing Calls To Waive Covid Patents, Allowing Other Companies To Make Pfizer’s And Moderna’s Vaccines

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This article is more than 2 years old.
Updated Apr 8, 2021, 02:40pm EDT

Topline

President Joe Biden is considering whether to support waiving intellectual property laws that allow Pfizer, AstraZeneca and other Covid-19 vaccine makers to hold onto their patents—preventing other companies from producing the vaccines—as pressure grows from Democrats and international health advocates who say granting a waiver could help get much-needed vaccines to the world's poorest countries sooner.

Key Facts

India and South Africa are among around 100 countries asking the World Trade Organization to waive patent protections that only allow for companies that have developed vaccines on their own—which include major pharmaceuticals companies Pfizer and AstraZeneca—from producing vaccines.

A temporary waiver would grant access to the formulas used to make the vaccines, giving other companies the necessary information to make vaccines on their own, which many argue would boost production and accelerate a lagging rollout.

The effort has failed to win the support of the U.S., the U.K. and the European Union so far, as major drug companies have argued allowing generic shots would "cause confusion" in the fight against new strains and would not make the vaccine rollout any faster.

But Biden at this stage is still considering whether to back a WTO waiver, and his administration has already committed $4 billion to the World Health Organization's COVAX global vaccination campaign as part of a broad  push to end the Covid-19 pandemic in the developing world.

Biden is facing significant pressure from Democrats on the issue, as around 100 lawmakers—including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—back intellectual property waivers for vaccines, according to Politico.

The effort is also backed by numerous charitable groups, WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Pope Francis.

Chief Critics

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America sent a letter to Biden saying waivers would "undermine the global response to the pandemic, including ongoing effort to tackle new variants." A group of Republican senators led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) have also asked Biden not to support a waiver, arguing intellectual property rights encourage innovation.

Key Background

Enough shots have been given out to vaccinate around 4.6% of the global population, according to a Bloomberg tracker, but distribution so far has been centered in wealthy, western countries. In Africa, only one mainland country—Morocco—has vaccinated more than 0.5% of its population, according to Bloomberg. It's a similar story in places like southern and western Asia and Central America, where supplies remain scarce. An estimate from The Economist found those areas likely won't have widespread vaccine coverage until at least 2023.

Tangent

The International Monetary Fund has canceled debt payments for 28 of the world's poorest countries, which have faced massive economic distress because of the pandemic. Janet Yellen is also set to provide U.S. funding for IMF "Special Drawing Rights" as part of a $650 billion fundraising effort by the international financial organization.

Big Number

40 million. That's how many people the World Bank reportedly believes have been pushed into extreme poverty by the pandemic.

Further Reading

Biden To Offer $4 Billion To Fund Coronavirus Vaccinations In Developing Countries (Forbes)

Poor countries are fighting with drug companies over vaccines. Now Biden must pick a side. (Politico)

IMF Cancels Debt Payments For Poorest Countries As Yellen Calls For Boosted Covid Relief (Forbes)

Africans slam rich nations for blocking access to generic COVID vaccines (Reuters)

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