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Covid-19: the United States in favor of the lifting of patents on vaccines

2021-05-06T18:50:33.643Z


"To provide as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as possible as quickly as possible": this is the goal of the Admi


Unimaginable under the Trump administration!

The United States supports the lifting of intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines, in order to accelerate the production and distribution of precious serums around the world.

This was announced Wednesday by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.

For the time being, the divide is widening between the struggling underprivileged nations and the rich countries, where vaccination campaigns - soon extended in the United States to adolescents and in Canada to children from 12 years old -, allow a gradual lifting of health restrictions.

“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” said US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.

"The administration firmly believes in intellectual property protections, but to end this pandemic, it supports the lifting of these protections for vaccines against Covid-19," she said.

A debate so far insoluble

Washington participates "actively" in the negotiations carried out at the WTO (World Trade Organization) to allow at least the temporary lifting of these patents.

This authorization is requested in particular by India and South Africa in order to be able to speed up production.

India, which suffers a second devastating wave, has counted 3,780 deaths and 382,000 additional contaminations in 24 hours, or more than 222,000 deaths and nearly 20.3 million cases in total, a toll that some experts widely consider. undervalued.

Read alsoRaising patents on vaccines, the idea that divides the world

For months, the more than 160 member countries of the WTO have been meeting regularly to deal with the health crisis.

Certain debates remain insoluble, including that of the lifting of patents, rejected so far by the countries of the North.

Urged by the World Health Organization (WHO) to show solidarity in this area, the members of the G7 (United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy) discussed on Wednesday in London the means of '' increase their financial assistance or share their excess doses to help poor states.

Covax, the sharing system with poor countries, which mainly supplies itself with AstraZeneca serums, is indeed slipping: it has delivered only 49 million doses in 121 countries and territories, against a target of two billion in 2021.

France pleads for donations

Some countries including France are opposed to the lifting of patents. Paris rather pleads for donations in favor of poor countries. The powerful pharmaceutical companies are globally opposed to the suspension of their patents, arguing that it deters expensive research.

In this context, Katherine Tai recognizes that negotiations at the World Trade Organization "will take time given the consensual nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues at stake". "The goal […] is to provide the most safe and effective vaccines to the greatest number of people as quickly as possible", insisted Katherine Tai while the pandemic rages in particular in India. "The administration will continue to intensify its efforts - in collaboration with the private sector and all potential partners - to expand the manufacture and distribution of vaccines," the ambassador also commented.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2021-05-06

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