European Union ready to debate suspension of patents on coronavirus vaccines

05/06/2021 7:09 AM

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 05/06/2021 7:15 AM

The president of the European Commission (EC),

Ursula von der Leyen

, said on Thursday that Europe is prepared to debate the proposal of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, for an exemption from the protection of intellectual property for vaccines against the coronavirus, during the inauguration of the conference on "The State of the Union" in Florence (Italy). 

Von der Leyen assured, by videoconference, that the EC is willing to "

debate any proposal that addresses the crisis in an effective and pragmatic manner

" and announced that a call will be made shortly "to all vaccine-producing countries to allow export. and avoid measures that disrupt supply chains. "

In addition, he described the vaccination campaign in Europe as a success, stating that "so far,

around 200 million doses have been distributed

" within the European Union (EU), which "are enough to vaccinate more than half of the European adult population at least once "and that"

neither China nor Russia even comes close to these figures

. "

"Right now, as I speak, we are vaccinating 30 Europeans per second. This means that, since the beginning of this speech, more than 12,000 Europeans have received one dose ... and about three million Europeans a day," added.

Biden announced that he will support the lifting of patents on Covid vaccines.

Photo: Reuter.

He advanced that in Europe the goal of "administering enough doses so that 70% of European adults are vaccinated in July" will be reached, and explained that "the

United States has a similar goal

", which shows "how much they have aligned themselves "the vaccination campaigns of both countries.

In addition, he made it clear that this objective has been achieved in Europe even "while remaining open to the world", since the EU "is the main exporter of vaccines worldwide and so far,

more than 200 million doses of vaccines produced in Europe

. "

"Europe exports almost as many vaccines as it delivers to its own citizens. To be clear,

Europe is the only democratic region in the world that exports vaccines on a large scale,

" he said.

Biden's support

On Wednesday, Joe Biden's government announced that it will

back the lifting of intellectual property rights on vaccines

against Covid 19, a decision that, although "will take time", could give a strong boost to the manufacture of vaccines in other countries. 

The United States was one of the countries that opposed the suspension of intellectual property in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to encourage production, at a time when there are serious spikes of infections in India and South America.

So President Biden was under heavy pressure to support the proposal, including within his own Democratic party.

The initiative had been promoted by India and South Africa in the WTO and endorsed by ten nations, including Argentina, because it opens the door for countries to produce their own generic vaccines, without having to wait months or years for shipment dose.

Several countries are pushing for the release of patents.

Photo: Reuter.

Von der Leyen denounced this Thursday that "others have tried to take advantage of a difficult situation for geopolitical gains" and emphasized: "If the virus continues to spread in India or Africa, Brazil or Russia, it is a serious risk for all of us. It is the broth of cultivation for variants. We

know that no one is safe until everyone is safe

. "

He further announced that the EU is close to signing a new contract with BioNTech-Pfizer for 1.8 billion doses of vaccines between the end of the year and 2023.

Von der Leyen insisted that "Europe has shown that a union of democracies can deliver results in times of crisis. For its own citizens. And for the rest of the world."

In his speech, he also addressed climate change and announced that a wide series of legislative proposals will be presented before the summer, "in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030."

With information from EFE.

JPE

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