The Daily Star newspaper recently announced on its front page, "COVID Vaccines. One Lakh Pfizer Shots to Arrive Next Month" (May 19, 2021). This news obviously comes at a good time for Bangladesh as it struggles to find more vaccines for the nation of 160 million people.
Special press conference to mark the first anniversary of the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool
Special press conference to mark the first anniversary of the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool 28 May 2021 18:00 – 19:00 CET
Speakers:
His Excellency Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica
The Honourable Arancha González Laya, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Spain
Professor Jesús Marco, Vice-president, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
The Honourable Meryame Kitir, Minister of Development Cooperation, Belgium
The Honourable Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Minister of Health, Indonesia
Abdul Muktadir, Chairman and Managing Director, Incepta Pharmaceuticals
Alejandra Sanchez Cabezas, Director, Observatorio de Salud, Argentina
Join the press conference by Zoom:
Why have the majority of Covid-19 vaccine doses gone to high and middle-income countries, while only a handful have been administered in low-income nations? At least part of the reason, some activists and academics argue, is that the big pharmaceutical companies producing vaccines, such as Pfizer, have not suspended the patents that they hold over their jabs. This means that other companies cannot manufacture generic versions without leaving them vulnerable to being sued. On Wednesday 5 May, US President Joe Biden’s administration announced that it would support waiving intellectual property (IP) for coronavirus vaccines, in a move that is bitterly opposed by Big Pharma. The plan, originally floated by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last year, is a break from decades of US orthodoxy and, if the proposal passes, it could mean lower profits for vaccine manufacturers. The shares of vaccine manufacturers Moderna, Novavax, BioNTech and Pfizer al
Democrats Funded by Big Pharma Refuse to Back COVID Vaccine Patent Waiver
Sen. Chris Coons invoked the January 6 Capitol breach to justify his opposition to temporarily suspending restrictive intellectual property protections.
T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool / Getty Images
The leading Democratic recipients of pharmaceutical industry cash in Congress are refusing to endorse calls for a temporary suspension of patents for coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics, an indication of Big Pharma’s influence as it lobbies aggressively in Washington and elsewhere to maintain monopoly control over production.
HuffPost’s Daniel Marans reported late Monday that 110 House Democrats have signed on to a letter led by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) calling on President Joe Biden to support India and South Africa’s proposed vaccine patent waiver at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which is set to consider the idea again this week. The letter is set to be unveiled on Tuesday.