Prince Harry and Meghan Markle penned an open letter to vaccine makers urging them to suspend the patent protections to help developing countries gain access to the shots. Visitors to the Archewell website are greeted with this picture along with a message saying: 'Join us in advocating for vaccine equity on Archie's birthday'
* Britain has been in closed-door talks at the World Trade Organization in recent months with other countries
* Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway, Singapore, European Union and US have all opposed waiving of IP rights
* But Joe Biden reversed course this week and backed idea first floated by India and South Africa last October
* Prince Harry and Meghan want vaccine makers to increase allocation of doses distributed to poorer countries
Britain is among a host of countries resisting calls led by US President Joe Biden and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines to be waived to boost jab rates in poorer countries.
Those backing the waiver including Harry and Meghan say it would allow poorer countries to produce the jabs for themselves - but many countries are resisting it amid concerns it would hit competition and the overall fight against the pandemic.
The UK has been in closed-door talks at the World Trade Organization in recent months along with the likes of Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway, Singapore, the European Union and the US, who all opposed the idea.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: The UK is not the only government pushing back on President Biden's push to waive patents .... Germany criticizes Biden’s push to waive vaccine patents (Politico). Their argument is if governments make the decision to ignore patent protections, who would then want to invest the necessary resources and skills to develop new vaccines.
The answer is nobody.
And forget about government agencies filling the void. In this pandemic government run organizations have proven themselves to be slow in searching and developing product Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
This push by the Biden administration and its supporters also ignores the critical role that COVAX plays in ensuring poorer nations have access to vaccines. More information on COVAX is here (link here). If the Biden administration is determined to distribute Covid vaccines to poorer nations, give COVAX the money to buy them.
But this argument is probably all moot, and it explains why Moderno's CEO is having no trouble sleeping .... Moderna CEO says he's not losing any sleep over Biden's support for COVID-19 vaccine waiver (Fierce Pharma).
Making vaccines is difficult. You need the proper manufacturing facilities and materials in place to produce them. Only a few countries have those facilities, and they are owned by companies like Moderno.
Or to put it more bluntly.
Providing these patents freely will not result in more vaccines being developed in time to make a difference as Phizer's CEO explains here .... Shot to bits: Pfizer and Moderna CEOs speak out as shares plummet after Meghan and Harry back Biden move to waive vaccine patents for poorer countries (Daily Mail).
As to what is my take. This push to waive patents is a terrible idea. Ignoring patent protections will create an environment that will kill investments to research and develop future vaccines and therapeutics. President Biden, Prince Harry and Meghan, and their supporters may feel good in attacking big pharma, but I trust big pharma far more than I trust Biden/Harry/and Meghan when the next pandemic occurs and a new vaccine will need to be developed ASAP.
1 comment:
Prince Harry and his mulatto wife are sure inserting themselves into world affairs, are they not?
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