Last July, during the presidential campaign, Joe Biden promised the universal health care advocate Ady Barkan that he wouldn’t let intellectual property laws stand in the way of worldwide access to coronavirus vaccines.
“The World Health Organisation is leading an unprecedented global effort to promote international cooperation in the search for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines,” Barkan said. “But Donald Trump has refused to join that effort, cutting America off from the rest of the world. If the US discovers a vaccine first, will you commit to sharing that technology with other countries, and will you ensure there are no patents to stand in the way of other countries and companies mass-producing those life-saving vaccines?”