U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the United States would support a global effort to lift intellectual property protections temporarily on coronavirus vaccines in an effort to help countries struggling with the weight of the pandemic to develop the shots more quickly.
“The administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections but in service of ending this pandemic supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines,” Tai said Wednesday.
President Joe Biden has come under pressure from his Democratic colleagues to back the temporary World Trade Organization waiver proposed by India and South Africa, which would lift intellectual property protections for vaccines with the goal of enabling lower-income countries to manufacture the vaccines themselves. The pharmaceutical industry, meanwhile, has warned that the waiver would reveal pharmaceutical trade secrets.
“As our vaccine supply for the American people is secured, the administration will continue to ramp up its efforts, working with the private sector and all possible partners, to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution,” Tai added.
BIDEN TO RESTRICT TRAVEL FROM INDIA AMID COVID-19 SURGE
The U.S. is expected to have enough shots to vaccinate more than 300 million people by the end of June, more than enough for every adult in the country. To date, more than 56% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a vaccine, while more than 41% of all adults have been fully vaccinated.
Democratic senators, including Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, urged Biden to support the WTO proposal last month in a letter arguing that it was the administration’s “moral obligation.” Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent socialist with a history of opposing pharmaceutical industry practices, also signed the letter.
“Our globalized economy cannot recover if only parts of the world are vaccinated,” the senators said in the April 16 letter. “While some countries have the resources necessary to get shots in arms immediately, without large increases in production, many countries may not have access to widespread COVID-19 vaccination until as late as 2024. We cannot afford to wait this long.”
Biden announced last week that his administration would send raw materials to India to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has not been approved by U.S. regulators. The devastating outbreak in India has caused new cases and death rates to soar over the past month.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION SENDING INDIA MATERIALS FOR MILLIONS OF ASTRAZENECA VACCINES
Roughly 381,000 new cases were confirmed in India every day over the past week, compared to the weekly average of about 59,000 new cases reported on March 30, according to tracking from the New York Times. Total infections in India have exceeded 20.6 million, and more than 226,000 people have died. The deaths have overwhelmed the country’s capacity to provide funeral rites for everyone, prompting cities to establish open-air cremation grounds.