Alberto Fernández celebrated that Joe Biden supports patent suspension for COVID-19 vaccines

Alberto Fernández on Wednesday celebrated that the United States government announced its support for the global publication of vaccine patents against COVID-19 and so far the doses “have not been evenly distributed in a world where a few win and millions lose.”

Through social networks, the president underlined that since the start of the health crisis, and even within the G20, he has always maintained that “it is imperative that vaccines are a global public good”.

“I reiterate our commitment to promote an effective licensing system that recognizes patents, but guarantees the global supply of vaccines”, published the President with a video of his speech at the G20 summit where he assured that Argentina would support any initiative aimed at more equitable access to health supplies.

This morning the United States Trade Representative, Katherine tai, said in a statement that while the intellectual property rights of companies are important, Washington “supports exemption from these protections for COVID-19 vaccines”.

“This is a global health crisis and the extraordinary circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic require extraordinary measures,” the official said.

In this sense, Alberto Fernández denounced that so far “vaccines have not been distributed equitably in a world where a few win and lose millions”. And I add: “Everyone should have access to health.”

With Katherine Tai’s statements, the United States has shifted its stance on one of the most sensitive issues in the current pandemic, when a few countries – usually producers – are concentrating the vast majority of global doses and the rest suffers from significant production. delays and logistical problems in getting enough vaccines to meet your immunization goals.

Washington’s decision was hailed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which deemed it “historic”, and questioned by the International Federation of the Pharmaceutical Industry (Ifpma), who called it “disappointing”.

“I congratulate the United States on this historic decision,” tweeted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who called for moving forward “all together quickly, in solidarity, to take advantage of the ingenuity and the commitment of the scientists who produced the life-saving covid-19 vaccines ”.

“We fully agree with the goal that COVID-19 vaccines are distributed quickly and fairly around the world; but as we have repeatedly said, a suspension is the simple but incorrect answer to a complex problem, ”Ifpma said in a statement.

According to WHO data, more than 87% of vaccine doses administered worldwide, up to the beginning of April, were in the richest countries, while low-income countries received only 0.2% of inoculants produced until the beginning of April. against the coronavirus.

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