Could US-Germany rift derail coronavirus vaccine patent waiver?
- Several nations praise US call to remove patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines
- Proposal faces resistance from pharmaceutical industry and others, including Germany
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Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla meanwhile said his company was “not at all” in favour of the measure, insisting intellectual property was not the main roadblock to more production and that building new plants would be counterproductive.
Rich nations have faced accusations of hoarding shots while poor countries struggle to get inoculation programmes off the ground, with the virus surging across the developing world in contrast to the easing of restrictions in Europe and the United States.
The problem was highlighted as India, one of the worst-hit countries, reported another record daily rise in coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing total new cases for the week to 1.57 million.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hailed the announcement as “a monumental moment in the fight against Covid-19”.
The move was also praised by the African Union, Paris, Rome and Vienna as well as World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who previously voiced reluctance on the issue, said Brussels was ready to discuss the proposal.
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But Berlin’s decision to come out strongly against the proposal has now left its fate unclear.
“The protection of intellectual property is a source of innovation and must remain so in the future,” a spokeswoman for Angela Merkel’s government said.
Bourla, whose company developed the first vaccine authorised in the West with Germany’s BioNTech, said that it wasn’t possible for other facilities to develop vaccines based on mRNA technology.
He cautioned firmly against disrupting current operations “with politically motivated announcements”.
The US-Germany rift, a boon to big pharmaceutical companies, comes as more than 3.2 million people have died from the virus worldwide since the crisis began in late 2019.
But the sell-off was less severe than the day before, which Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services credited to traders realising the complexity of reaching an agreement at the WTO and German intransigence.
Supporters of the waiver say that easing patent restrictions would spur production of low-cost generic vaccines, helping poor countries that are struggling to immunise their populations.
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Opponents argue it could erode pharmaceutical companies’ profit incentive to develop new treatments.
India has been leading the fight to allow more drug makers to manufacture the vaccines, as it faces a surge that has seen patients die in streets outside hospitals due to bed and medical oxygen shortages.
The country reported a record daily 414,188 new cases on Friday, while deaths from Covid-19 increased by 3,915, bringing total deaths to 234,083.
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The crisis in India has sparked a chain reaction, with the WHO warning of a new wave of Covid-19 infections in Africa due to delayed vaccine supplies from the South Asian giant.
“The delay in the delivery of vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India earmarked for Africa, the delay in the deployment of vaccines and the emergence of new variants means that the risk of a new wave of infections remains very high in Africa,” it said in a statement.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press
