WASHINGTON: The United States threw its weight behind a waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines as India on Thursday posted record deaths and infections from a catastrophic wave swamping the country.
Rich nations have faced accusations of hoarding shots while poor countries struggle to get inoculation programmes off the ground, with the virus surging across the developing world in contrast to the easing of restrictions in Europe and the United States.
Under intense pressure to ease protections for vaccine manufacturers, Washington’s Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Wednesday the country “supports the waiver of those protections for Covid-19 vaccines”.
“The extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” she said in a statement.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the “historic” move and said it marked “a monumental moment in the fight against Covid-19”.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — who has previously voiced reluctance to waive patents — said on Thursday the bloc was ready to discuss the US proposal to do so.
EU governments lined up to weigh in, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying he was “absolutely in favour” of a global waiver, while Germany said it was open to discussing the proposal.
But the move is opposed
by a consortium of big pharmaceutical companies, which described the decision as “disappointing” and warned it could hamper innovation.
Shares in Asia-listed vaccine makers — including Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, CanSino Biologics and JCR Pharmaceutical sinking — tumbled on Thursday after the US announcement.
The move “probably isn’t great news for the vaccine manufacturers who will now face generic copies of their vaccine”, said Olivier d’Assier, head of APAC applied research at Qontigo GmbH.
India has been leading the fight to allow more drugmakers to manufacture the vaccines, as it faces a surge that has seen patients die in streets outside hospitals due to bed and medical oxygen shortages. — AFP
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