By Lauren Egan - NBC News
WASHINGTON - The government chaired by Joe Biden said on Wednesday it will support the
suspension of patents
on COVID-19 vaccines, after weeks of pressure from the international community as cases increase brutally in India and other countries.
"The Administration strongly believes in intellectual property protections, but in the interests of ending this pandemic, it supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines," said United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
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"As the supply of vaccines is secured for the American people, the Administration will continue to intensify its efforts - working with the private sector and all possible partners - to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution. It will also work to
increase
needed
raw materials.
to produce those vaccines, "Tai added.
Following the announcement, prices of the
shares
of the major pharmaceutical companies
traded downward
.
The government will negotiate the exemption text at the World Trade Organization, which meets this week, according to Tai, but "negotiations will take time given the consensus-based nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues involved." , he specified.
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The president has faced mounting pressure from the world community and some Democratic lawmakers to suspend the patents of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers so that other countries can produce generic vaccines.
In addition, the US government provided assistance to some of the companies that developed the vaccines to accelerate their availability.
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The United States and other rich countries have been criticized for getting ahead of the vaccine rollout while other poorer countries struggle to obtain them.
Experts have warned that
global vaccination inequality could prolong the pandemic
for everyone if the coronavirus continues to mutate, potentially making it more infectious and resistant to vaccines.
Biden has prioritized vaccinating everyone in the United States before offering doses to other countries.
However, pressure to relax patent protections has intensified as
India and South America battle the surge in cases
and as concerns mount that
China and Russia's
strategy
to sell or donate their vaccines to other countries allow them to expand their influence around the world.
Some experts have warned that lifting patent protections may not improve global availability because drugs are difficult to produce and some poorer countries may not be equipped to mass-produce enough, a concern shared by some in the world. White House.
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Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, said Sunday on CBS's
Face the Nation
that "intellectual property rights are part of the problem."
"But really,
manufacturing is the biggest problem.
We have a factory here in the United States that has all the intellectual property rights to make the vaccine. They are not doing doses because the factory has problems," he said.