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Just got the J&J vaccine — a free and (so I’m told) effective shield against COVID-19 that remains out of reach for the vast majority of people.
Today, even people like me — mid-30s, no real health problems, theoretically already (albeit perhaps temporarily) immune after recently recovering from COVID-19 — can get a vaccine months or maybe even years ahead of the elderly, sick and vulnerable.
The reasons for this disparity are many but one is the Biden administration’s unwillingness thus far to negotiate with developing countries seeking a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights held by a handful of powerful corporations.
India, now the global epicenter of the pandemic, is among dozens of nations backing a proposal to temporarily waive IP rights of major pharmaceutical companies so developing countries can produce a vaccine. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/21/wto-to-hold-meeting-on-waving-property-rights-on-covid-vaccines
If taking a vaccine is as urgent as Western health authorities are telling their own citizens, it stands to reason that it should be available to every person willing to take one — not just those of us currently living in wealthy countries like America.
Instead, the U.S. government is simultaneously urging its citizens to accept a free means of protecting themselves and their loved ones while essentially telling hundreds of millions of others that they’re not entitled to the same security. At least not now.
According to one poll I’ve seen (via @natashalennard), the majority of American voters want their government to temporarily waive IP protections so their fellow human beings can get vaccinated. https://www.filesforprogress.org/datasets/2021/3/dfp-covid-us-vaccine-waiver-toplines.pdf
The next formal WTO meeting on the issue is Monday, May 5.
