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US reportedly considering intellectual property waiver for coronavirus vaccines

US reportedly considering intellectual property waiver for coronavirus vaccines

US President Joe Biden

The White House is reportedly considering a waiver of intellectual property rights on the production of COVID-19 vaccines.

Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday said that the US wants to maximise the global production of COVID-19 vaccines at the lowest cost, even though no decision has been made on the waiver yet.

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"There are a lot of different ways to do that. Right now, that's one of the ways, but we have to assess what makes the most sense," Reuters cited Psaki as saying.

Psaki added that the US is considering improving manufacturing within the country to make the process more effective. According to her, US President Joe Biden is yet to make a decision on the matter, and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai hasn’t made a recommendation yet.

Currently, the United States is facing pressure from across the globe to support the temporary patent waiver which would essentially help many countries that are currently struggling with surge in cases.

India and South Africa are leading the proposal to waive the IP rights of pharmaceutical companies, which would allow developing countries to produce COVID-19 vaccines.

So far, the US and other countries have blocked such negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Earlier, Tai had said that the divide in terms of access to vaccines between developing and developed countries was “completely unacceptable”, while adding that the industry needs to make sacrifices during crises.

(With inputs from agencies)