US backs waiving intellectual property rules on vaccines

The United States has decided to side with the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the U.S. government’s opinion, amid World Trade Organisation talks about a possible temporary waiver of its protection that would allow more manufacturers to produce COVID vaccines.

She believes it would take time to reach global consensus to waive the protections under WTO rules, and U.S. officials said it would not have an immediate effect on global vaccine supply.

The Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention welcomed the decision, saying history will remember this decision as a great act of humanity.