European Union ready to debate patent suspension on coronavirus vaccines

The President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, said on Thursday that Europe is ready to discuss the proposal by United States President Joe Biden to waive intellectual property protection for coronavirus vaccines at the conference opening on ” The State of the Union ”in Florence (Italy).

Von der Leyen assured by videoconference that the EC is ready to “discuss any proposal that resolves the crisis in an efficient and pragmatic manner“and he announced that an appeal will be launched soon” to all vaccine producing countries to allow exports and avoid measures that interrupt supply chains. “

Further, he described the vaccination campaign in Europe as a success, stating that “so far, approximately 200 million doses have been distributed“within the European Union (EU), that” they are sufficient to vaccinate at least once more than half of the European adult population “and that”neither China nor Russia even come close to these numbers“.

“Right now, as I speak to you, we are vaccinating 30 Europeans per second. This means that, since the start of this speech, more than 12,000 Europeans have received a dose … and around three million Europeans per day, “added.

He predicted that in Europe the goal “of administering enough doses so that 70% of European adults are vaccinated by July” will be reached “and explained that”The United States has a similar goal», Which shows« how well they have aligned »the vaccination campaigns of the two countries.

In addition, he clarified that this objective has been achieved in Europe itself “while remaining open to the world”, since the EU “is the main exporter of vaccines in the world and so far, more than 200 million doses of vaccines produced in Europe have been sent to the rest of the planet“.

“Europe exports almost as many vaccines as it delivers to its own citizens. To be clear, Europe is the only democratic region in the world that exports vaccines on a large scale“, he said.

Biden’s support

On Wednesday, government Joe Biden announced that rsupport the lifting of intellectual property rights on vaccines against Covid 19, a decision which, although “will take time”, could give a strong impetus to the manufacture of vaccines in other countries.

The United States has been one of the countries that has opposed the suspension of intellectual property at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to encourage production, at a time when there are severe spikes in infections. in India and South America. President Biden has therefore come under heavy pressure to support the proposal, including within his own Democratic Party.

The initiative was promoted by India and South Africa at the WTO and endorsed by ten countries, including Argentina, because it allows countries to produce their own generic vaccines, without having to wait months or years for the shipment of the dose.

Von der Leyen denounced this Thursday that “others have tried to take advantage of a difficult situation for geopolitical gains” and stressed: “If the virus continues to spread in India or Africa, Brazil or Russia, it’s a serious risk for all of us, it’s the breeding ground for variants.We know no one is safe until everyone is safe“.

He further announced that the EU was on the verge of signing a new contract with BioNTech-Pfizer for 1.8 billion doses of vaccine between the end of the year and 2023.

Von der Leyen insisted that “Europe has shown that a union of democracies can produce results in times of crisis. For its own citizens. And for the rest of the world”.

In his speech, he also addressed climate change and announced that a wide range of legislative proposals will be presented before the summer, “in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 “.

With information from EFE.

JPE