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The View | A Covid-19 vaccine patent waiver will save lives. The rich West must stop blocking it
- Vaccine inequity is prolonging the pandemic by allowing room for the virus to mutate and spread, experts say. IP rights for vaccines must be lifted not only for humane reasons, but also on social justice grounds
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In his media briefing on December 22, World Health Organization director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that blanket booster programmes are likely to prolong the Covid-19 pandemic, rather than end it, “by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunities to spread and mutate”.
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The Omicron variant is seen widely as an example of that type of mutation.
An angry Dr Ayoade Alakija, co-chair of the African Union’s African Vaccine Delivery Alliance, told the BBC that the Omicron outbreak was the “failure of the world to vaccinate in an equitable, urgent and speedy manner” and “a result of hoarding by high-income countries of the world”.
Foreseeing this development, India and South Africa co-authored a proposal to the World Trade Organization in October last year, requesting that certain obligations in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) be waived with respect to the prevention, containment or treatment of Covid-19.
On May 21, a number of countries (including India and South Africa) issued a revised proposal specifying areas where this should be waived – such as in relation to diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, medical devices and personal protective equipment.
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