US mulls over options on Covid vaccine patent waiver

US government led by President Joe Biden is mulling over options it has to decide whether to support waiver of intellectual property protections on Covid vaccines. A group of progressive Democrats met Biden and urged him to support the waiver.

In case the waiver is granted by World Trade Organisation with support from US and other countries, the rules regarding production and export of Covid vaccines and other medical goods to fight the pandemic would be eased. This may have potential to help make Covid vaccines available to all.

The waiver includes patents, copyrights and trade secrets.

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The proposal for the waiver has support of India, South Africa and more than 50 other countries. Under former President Donald Trump, the US had opposed the waiver.

The waiver was also opposed by the European Union, UK, Japan, Switzerland, Brazil and Norway. However, it is being seen that if the US supports the waiver, opposition from the other camps would not be as fierce.

There is a growing clamour for the support of the waiver. Medical charity Doctors Without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has urged all the countries to support the waiver

"In this COVID-19 pandemic, we are once again faced with issues of scarcity, which can be addressed through diversification of manufacturing and supply capacity and ensuring the temporary waiver of relevant intellectual property,” said Dr Maria Guevara, MSF’s International Medical Secretary.

“We urge all countries in opposition to this, including the US and the EU, to stand on the right side of history and join hands with those in support. It is about saving lives at the end, not protecting systems.”

(With inputs from agencies)