The US has surprised the pharmaceutical industry by backing a plan to waive Covid-19 vaccine patents, in an attempt to boost production of shots needed to inoculate more of the world.
Katherine Tai, Joe Biden’s top trade adviser, said the US would support a waiver, while stressing that it “believes strongly” in intellectual property protections.
The move was welcomed by the World Health Organization and activists for greater access to medicines who hope that if the World Trade Organization waives a longstanding agreement designed to protect intellectual property, known as the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or Trips, more manufacturers could make the vaccines.