World needs quick waiver on vaccine IPR

It is disappointing that the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which was to be held in Geneva last week, had to be indefinitely postponed because of the travel restrictions imposed by some countries in the wake of the discovery of the new Covid-19 virus variant Omicron. Delegations from 164 member countries were expected to discuss some important issues, including the need for wider access to Covid-19 vaccines and drugs for developing countries. It is ironic that a meeting to discuss improved vaccine supplies and specifically a call for a waiver of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) relating to vaccines and other Covid-19 treatments had to be postponed citing the threat of yet another new variant. Had the developed countries agreed and the WTO decided early enough to India and South Africa’s proposal to waive IPR restrictions and enabled speedier vaccination all over the world, the danger of new variants arising would be far less now.

A waiver will enable countries to use compulsory licences without the consent of the patent-holder to produce vaccines and medicines cheaply and to send them to countries that are unable to make them. Many low-income countries have no manufacturing facilities and cannot afford vaccines and drugs at their current prices. Covax, the international initiative to deliver vaccines cheaply to needy countries, has been able to deliver only 30 per cent of the requirements. In some countries, only about 5% of people have got even one vaccine dose till now. It is estimated that at the present pace of production and distribution, the required quantity of vaccines will be available to poor countries only by the end of 2022 or early 2023. It is unfortunate that a large part of the world's population has to wait till then for the vaccines. It is risky also because there is the possibility of more variants of the virus emerging if the virus keeps actively circulating among people. Even countries that are providing a vaccine booster dose to their populations will not be safe when other countries are under-vaccinated. That makes the case for an urgent IPR waiver strong.

The proposal made by India and South Africa has received support from as many as 100 countries. Developed countries in the EU, the UK and Switzerland have opposed it, but it got a major boost when US President Joe Biden announced last Friday that he supported it. Countries with a large manufacturing capacity, such as India, can produce enough vaccines cheaply and supply them if there is an IPO waiver. The waiver can be withdrawn when it is no longer needed. The WTO should take an early and positive decision on the matter.

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