EU needs to mobilise, make vaccines available globally
Jon Van Housen and Mariella Radaelliy Filed on May 10, 2021
The virus respects no boundaries, so neither should the fight against it.
It might not be the most pragmatic approach for immediate aid, but a World Trade Organisation (WTO) proposal to waive patent protection on Covid-19 vaccines and assist less affluent nations has put the spotlight where it belongs on humanity itself.
The virus respects no boundaries, so neither should the fight against it. As a European Union conference last weekend considered a potential waiver of vaccine intellectual property (IP) rights, it became clear that nationalism and profits for Big Pharma have no place in discussions about how to get assistance to countries such as India and Brazil, which along with 100 other countries made the WTO proposal.