Coronavirus: Angela Merkel’s claim to Joe Biden for vaccines

BERLIN – The German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated this Saturday your opposition to suspend the patents on vaccines against the coronaviruses, and to present to the United States a demand which is a priority for them: to open the “market” to allow the exports of vaccines and their components.

“Now that a large portion of the American population is vaccinatedI hope that we can have a free exchange of components and also an opening of the vaccine market, ”Merkel said at a press conference following a summit of European leaders.

“The European Union (EU) has always exported a large part of its production and this should be the norm,” argued the leader.

After more than a month of internal deliberation, the US president Joe Biden decided this week to support international calls for override patent protections for vaccines. The measure has not yet been approved by Congress.

In line with Merkel’s assertions, the French President Emmanuel Macron He also urged this Saturday the “Anglo-Saxons” to stop “blocking” exports, also including the UK in their complaint.

Macron pointed out that of the 110 million doses produced in Europe, the EU exported 45 million and saved 65 million. At the same time, he regretted that “100% of vaccines produced in the United States are destined for the American market”.

Merkel also reiterated her opposition to a vaccine patent suspension, a debate that was revived within the World Trade Organization (WTO) after support for the temporary exemption announced by the United States. “I don’t think patent suspension is the answer to making more vaccines available to more people.”the Chancellor said, rejecting the initiative presented by India and South Africa in October last year.

“I think creativity and innovation in business is necessary, and for me that includes patents”, Explained Merkel, an argument also defended by the large Western laboratories which produce drugs against the coronavirus.

AFP and ANSA agencies

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