US President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced support for a global waiver on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, offering hope to poor nations that have struggled to access the life-saving doses.
US President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced support for a global waiver on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, offering hope to poor nations that have struggled to access the life-saving doses.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization , called the US decision"historic" and marked"a monumental moment in the fight against COVID-19."Ms Tai cautioned said that negotiations"will take time given the consensus-based nature" of the WTO. But that notion has been fiercely opposed by pharmaceutical giants and their host countries, which insist the patents are not the main roadblocks to scaling up production, and warned the move could hamper innovation.
K Vijay Raghavan, the Indian government's principal scientific advisor, said the country of 1.3 billion people had to prepare for a new wave of infections even after beating down the current wave, which has taken the country's caseload above 20 million infections. More than 1.2 billion doses have been administered globally, but fewer than one percent in the least developed countries.
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