The United States under President Trump was resisting the TRIPS waiver proposal (IP/C/W/669), where as new revised stand by Biden has opened doors for COVID-19 Vaccine for all.

New Delhi (ABC Live India): COVID-19 Vaccine For All: United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Wednesday released a statement announcing the Biden-Harris Administration’s support for waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines.

It is mention worthy that the TRIPS waiver proposal (IP/C/W/669) was initially submitted by South Africa and India and has since been co-sponsored by Kenya, Eswatini, Mozambique, Pakistan, Bolivia, Venezuela, Mongolia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, the African Group, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, and most recently Maldives, Fiji and Namibia — a total of 60 WTO members.

The United States under President Trump was resisting the TRIPS waiver proposal (IP/C/W/669), where as US new revised stand has opened doors for COVID-19 Vaccine for all.

At a meeting of the TRIPS Council on 30 April, WTO members agreed to continue consideration of the proposal for a temporary waiver of certain TRIPS obligations in response to COVID-19 and tasked the chair to report to the General Council on this decision at its 5-6 May meeting.

The press statement issued by the office of United States trade representative states, “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures.  The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines. We will actively participate in text-based negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) needed to make that happen. Those negotiations will take time given the consensus-based nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues involved.  

The Administration’s aim is to get as many safe and effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible.  As our vaccine supply for the American people is secured, the Administration will continue to ramp up its efforts – working with the private sector and all possible partners – to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution.  It will also work to increase the raw materials needed to produce those vaccines.”

With this revised stand taken by the Biden-Harris Administration, the experts say the ongoing meeting of the WTO General Council will decide accordingly, as till date European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, and other rich countries are opposing the TRIPS waiver proposal for COVID-19 Vaccines in WTO.