In late August, the South Korean government, one of America’s staunchest allies, sent President Biden an urgent request to get access for South Korean vaccine producers to one of the COVID-19 vaccines developed with U.S. taxpayer money. South Korea wasn’t even asking that the patents be waived. They were willing to pay licensing fees at commercial rates. According to the Financial Times, Korean officials were told that this was something for the drug companies, not the U.S. government, to decide. Really? The drug companies, having made tens of billions on COVID vaccines so far, hope to make many billions more as they ramp up production to meet worldwide demand. They don’t want competitors, even in friendly nations with urgent needs such as South Korea. As the Biden administration plans to approve booster shots for Americans, the gap between its words and deeds when it comes to vaccines for the global pandemic is a disgrace. To date, the U.S. has donated or pledged to donate about 600 million doses, against a worldwide need of 12 to 15 billion doses by the end of this year. The only solution is a patent waiver, so that drugmakers in India and elsewhere can drastically increase production of vaccines using the mRNA technology developed with substantial U.S. government support in the case of Moderna. In May, the U.S. raised hopes by reversing its traditional stance and joining with some 130 other nations in voting for an emergency waiver of the international trade agreement protecting patents and other intellectual property, known as TRIPS. With the waiver, the new vaccines would effectively be in the public domain for the duration of the pandemic. But since the U.S. dropped its opposition, there has been no progress toward actually getting the deal done. My sources say the permanent staff of the
U.S. trade representative at WTO headquarters in Geneva, loyal to the traditional view of trade deals being sacrosanct, has worked to undermine progress. It’s a cliché to say that getting the world vaccinated is in America’s self-interest because COVID variants do not respect national borders. It’s also the right thing to do, as human beings. The drug companies have far too much influence on Biden’s administration—Steve Ricchetti, this means you. Biden needs to put humanity first.
