Key change? Biden plans to suspend patents on coronavirus vaccines

WASHINGTON.- White House “evaluates” whether to temporarily suspend patents on coronavirus vaccines, which would allow the poorest countries produce drugs on their territory. The pressure on the United States to adopt this initiative is increasing sharply as the country moves forward with its immunization plan – more than half of the country’s adult population has already received the treatment – and also because the India is facing the worst wave of covid-19 a nation has suffered since the start of the pandemic.

US says it is studying how to maximize global production and vaccine supply at the lowest cost. “There are a lot of different ways to do it. At this moment, that [la suspensión de las patentes] is one of the ways, but we have to assess what makes the most sense, ”said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who clarified that the president Joe biden has made no decision on this matter.

When Biden spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, they both raised the issue of vaccine intellectual property. “This was briefly discussed. We are analyzing it, but I have nothing to say about our position at this time, ”a senior White House official said on a teleconference, detailing the conversation between the two leaders.

That day, Washington announced that it would send oxygen concentrators, drugs and vaccines to New Delhi. India is the world’s largest vaccine maker, but millions of people have yet to receive the dose and face a shortage of raw materials.

US Foreign Trade Representative Katherine Tai called the huge gap between access to medicines in developed and developing countries “totally unacceptable” and warned that the pharmaceutical industry must make sacrifices in time. crisis. The stance opened a window of optimism over the possible White House decision on patents, but Psaki clarified on Tuesday that Tai has not made any recommendations on the matter so far.

The pressure for Biden to renounce intellectual property rules has come from everywhere. In a public letter, 170 Nobel laureates and former heads of state from 100 countries called on him to “put the collective right to security for all before the commercial monopolies of a few”. In early April, 10 senators from the left wing of the Democratic Party, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, sent him a letter endorsing India and South Africa’s call to the World Trade Organization for temporarily relax intellectual property rules. Washington has so far blocked this request.

El País, SL

THE NATION