From WSJopinion: The Biden Administration’s Covid vaccine donation to other countries underscores that breaking intellectual property protections isn’t necessary to vaccinate the world.
President Biden announced at the G-7 summit on Thursday that the U.S. will donate 500 million Pfizer doses to lower-income countries, by far the largest contribution of any nation. The donation is welcome, but it also underscores that breaking intellectual property protections isn’t necessary to vaccinate the world.
The World Health Organization and public-health left have relentlessly flogged wealthy countries for hoarding vaccines. “The world has reached a situation of ‘vaccine apartheid,’” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently said. This is nonsense, but Mr. Biden last month bowed to political pressure and endorsed a resolution at the World Trade Organization by India and South Africa to suspend IP protections for vaccines. Not that this bought any goodwill from critics or allies of the U.S.
Suspending IP protections would slow manufacturing as lower-income countries with little expertise in vaccine production compete for raw ingredients with licensed manufacturers. It would also reduce future pharmaceutical investment and innovation, as European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel, have argued.
Mr. Biden first agreed to donate 80 million doses of America’s excess supply to lower-income countries. On Thursday he increased the U.S. charitable contribution by 500 million doses, which the federal government will buy from Pfizer at cost.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Opinion: There’s a new LGBTQ-focused ETF — here’s how it differs from two others that failedOPINION: This new ETF is a passively managed, large-cap index fund that holds the top 100 U.S. companies that most align with the LGBTQ community, writes columnist DebbieCarlson1.
Read more »
Curly Cuts 101: Get the Scoop From Two Celeb StylistsCelebrity hairstylists ShaiAmiel and vernonfrancois share everything there is to know about getting and maintaining curly cuts.
Read more »
Murder of two teens in 1956 finally closed using forensic genealogyDNA evidence preserved after a 1956 double homicide and the use of forensic genealogy has helped a Montana sheriff’s office close the books on the 65-year-old cold case, officials say.
Read more »
Saved By The Bell stars reunite for reboot series two and fans are delightedThree iconic stars from 90s teen-show Saved By The Bell have got together for a reunion and fans can't contain their excitement...
Read more »
Eat Two Fruits a Day, Ward Off Diabetes?Results from an observational Australian study 'support encouragement of the consumption of whole fruits, but not fruit juice, to preserve insulin sensitivity and mitigate type 2 diabetes risk.'
Read more »