Biden’s support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents has had a mixed reaction from EU countries.
A spokesperson for the German government said it would cause “severe complications,” per Bloomberg.
Experts have said lifting vaccine patents may not be that effective in easing global shortages.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Germany pushed back Thursday against President Joe Biden’s support for a patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, one of the first rich nations to explicitly oppose the move.
A spokesperson for the German government said waiving patents would cause “severe complications” for vaccine production in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.
The US announced its support for the move on Wednesday, following pressure from more than 100 developing-world countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Mia JankowiczFri, May 7, 2021, 6:35 AM·3 min read
Joe Bidenmerkel vaccine German Chancellor Angela Merkel. GettyBiden’s support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents has had a mixed reaction from EU countries.
A spokesperson for the German government said it would cause “severe complications,” per Bloomberg.
Experts have said lifting vaccine patents may not be that effective in easing global shortages.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Germany pushed back Thursday against President Joe Biden’s support for a patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, one of the first rich nations to explicitly oppose the move.
A spokesperson for the German government said waiving patents would cause “severe complications” for vaccine production in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.
The US announced its support for the move on Wednesday, following pressure from more than 100 developing-world countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Several EU countries and the UK had been against the move. Those nations previously blocked discussion of a patent waiver at the WTO’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) council, according to Foreign Policy.
The same countries – which have some of the world’s best vaccine supplies and largest pharmaceutical companies – had a mixed reaction to the US announcement.
A spokesperson for the German federal government said Thursday: “The US suggestion for the lifting of patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines has significant implications for vaccine production as a whole,” according to Deutsche Welle (DW).
“The protection of intellectual property is a source of innovation and must remain so in the future,’ the statement said.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission, told an online conference that the bloc is “ready to discuss” the US proposals, DW reported.
“Our priority is to ramp up production to achieve global vaccination,” she wrote in a tweet. “At the same time we are open to discuss any other effective and pragmatic solution. In this context we are ready to assess how the US proposal could help achieve that objective.”
French President Emmanuel Macron had in the past objected to the waiver. But after the US announcement he changed tack, and said he was “absolutely in favor,” France24 reported.
A French government spokesperson sounded a note of caution about how helpful a waiver might be, however. The spokesperson argued that there are more important problems in vaccinating the world, namely limited production capacity and ingredients, Reuters reported.
The official added: “I would remind you that it is the United States that has not exported a single dose to other countries, and is now talking about lifting the patents.”
Do not kill the goose that layeth the golden eggs. The next time, big pharma will look the other way for the next pandemic.
After all, do you want the federal government trying to make their own vaccines? Wanna wait 25 years as all the politicians make sure they are paid then see a trickle of production? If you want government healthcare, I suggest you try the VA system for a while. If I had waited on the VA to make up their minds I’d be dead right now. My kidneys were failing and I was toxic as heck but the Nephrologist the VA hired to check on my kidneys could not get authorization for a hospitalization even though he called every day for a week, and I called three times that week. Finally he ordered me to the hospital regardless under my Medicare on Friday and if I had waited until the following Monday (VA community care does not work weekends) I’d have died. As it was I had to have the life squad come fetch me to the local ER for the trip to the hospital 70 miles away. I could not walk across the room. Our rural hospital does not do kidney surgery. The hospital only got authorization from the VA two weeks AFTER I was discharged. Then I was to have dialysis and the VA again took their time to authorize treatment so I had to use Medicare. It took them a month to okay the dialysis; again, if I had waited I’d likely have died. So now I am getting bills from what Medicare did not cover for the ER visit, the liffe squad trip, the trip to the big hospital and the surgery when there, as well as the first month’s dialysis treatments and trying to get the VA to pay up. I spend two days every week on the phone trying to get them straight. I could lose my home and be forced into bankruptcy, thanks to socialized, government medicine.
briangj2 almost 3 years ago
Biden’s support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents has had a mixed reaction from EU countries.
A spokesperson for the German government said it would cause “severe complications,” per Bloomberg.
Experts have said lifting vaccine patents may not be that effective in easing global shortages.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Germany pushed back Thursday against President Joe Biden’s support for a patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, one of the first rich nations to explicitly oppose the move.
A spokesperson for the German government said waiving patents would cause “severe complications” for vaccine production in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.
The US announced its support for the move on Wednesday, following pressure from more than 100 developing-world countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Mia JankowiczFri, May 7, 2021, 6:35 AM·3 min read
Joe Bidenmerkel vaccine German Chancellor Angela Merkel. GettyBiden’s support for waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents has had a mixed reaction from EU countries.
A spokesperson for the German government said it would cause “severe complications,” per Bloomberg.
Experts have said lifting vaccine patents may not be that effective in easing global shortages.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Germany pushed back Thursday against President Joe Biden’s support for a patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, one of the first rich nations to explicitly oppose the move.
A spokesperson for the German government said waiving patents would cause “severe complications” for vaccine production in an emailed statement to Bloomberg.
The US announced its support for the move on Wednesday, following pressure from more than 100 developing-world countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
(To be continued)
briangj2 almost 3 years ago
(Continued)
Several EU countries and the UK had been against the move. Those nations previously blocked discussion of a patent waiver at the WTO’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) council, according to Foreign Policy.
The same countries – which have some of the world’s best vaccine supplies and largest pharmaceutical companies – had a mixed reaction to the US announcement.
A spokesperson for the German federal government said Thursday: “The US suggestion for the lifting of patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines has significant implications for vaccine production as a whole,” according to Deutsche Welle (DW).
“The protection of intellectual property is a source of innovation and must remain so in the future,’ the statement said.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission, told an online conference that the bloc is “ready to discuss” the US proposals, DW reported.
“Our priority is to ramp up production to achieve global vaccination,” she wrote in a tweet. “At the same time we are open to discuss any other effective and pragmatic solution. In this context we are ready to assess how the US proposal could help achieve that objective.”
French President Emmanuel Macron had in the past objected to the waiver. But after the US announcement he changed tack, and said he was “absolutely in favor,” France24 reported.
A French government spokesperson sounded a note of caution about how helpful a waiver might be, however. The spokesperson argued that there are more important problems in vaccinating the world, namely limited production capacity and ingredients, Reuters reported.
The official added: “I would remind you that it is the United States that has not exported a single dose to other countries, and is now talking about lifting the patents.”
https://news.yahoo.com/germany-not-happy-bidens-support-103515760.html
hawgowar almost 3 years ago
Do not kill the goose that layeth the golden eggs. The next time, big pharma will look the other way for the next pandemic.
After all, do you want the federal government trying to make their own vaccines? Wanna wait 25 years as all the politicians make sure they are paid then see a trickle of production? If you want government healthcare, I suggest you try the VA system for a while. If I had waited on the VA to make up their minds I’d be dead right now. My kidneys were failing and I was toxic as heck but the Nephrologist the VA hired to check on my kidneys could not get authorization for a hospitalization even though he called every day for a week, and I called three times that week. Finally he ordered me to the hospital regardless under my Medicare on Friday and if I had waited until the following Monday (VA community care does not work weekends) I’d have died. As it was I had to have the life squad come fetch me to the local ER for the trip to the hospital 70 miles away. I could not walk across the room. Our rural hospital does not do kidney surgery. The hospital only got authorization from the VA two weeks AFTER I was discharged. Then I was to have dialysis and the VA again took their time to authorize treatment so I had to use Medicare. It took them a month to okay the dialysis; again, if I had waited I’d likely have died. So now I am getting bills from what Medicare did not cover for the ER visit, the liffe squad trip, the trip to the big hospital and the surgery when there, as well as the first month’s dialysis treatments and trying to get the VA to pay up. I spend two days every week on the phone trying to get them straight. I could lose my home and be forced into bankruptcy, thanks to socialized, government medicine.
Teto85 Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Salk and Sabin gave theirs away. Profit was not important to them, curing the virus they fought was.