The United States and Russia allowed the cancellation of the patent for vaccines against COVID-19. Will this help defeat the coronavirus pandemic

The presidents of the United States and Russia supported the idea of ​​abandoning patent rights on coronavirus vaccines. Will this initiative be implemented and what consequences can it lead to - in the material of RBC Joe Biden

Who supported the repeal of patents

The administration of US President Joe Biden has supported the idea of ​​suspending intellectual property protection for vaccines. “The extraordinary circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. The [U.S.] administration firmly believes in the importance of protecting intellectual property, but in order to end the pandemic, it supports waiving these regulations for COVID-19 vaccines,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement. The suspension of patent rights will allow developing countries to produce vaccines, The Wall Street Journal notes.

The US decision was taken against the backdrop of an increase in the number of recorded COVID-19 infections in the world. Tai says the US administration is trying to help get vaccines to as many people as possible. The U.S. consent to the suspension of patents was also facilitated by the fact that the country was able to provide itself with a sufficient amount of the drug for vaccination against COVID-19. As of May 8, 45% of Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine. This is the fourth highest figure after Israel (62.6%), the UK (51.5%) and Bahrain (45.4%).

As of May 7, the average seven-day increase in cases is almost 102 per 1 million people and remains at a record high level since the beginning of the pandemic, although it has decreased compared to the end of April, according to data from the statistical portal Our World in Data. In total, according to Johns Hopkins University, more than 155.2 million people have become infected in the world, more than 3.2 million have died. The leader in the number of confirmed cases is the United States, where 32.55 million infected were detected. In second place is India (21 million), in third is Brazil (14.9 million), in fourth is France (5.76 million), in fifth is Turkey (4.95 million), which bypassed Russia.

The number of supporters of the removal of patent restrictions on medicines is growing. The most ardent supporters of the initiative are South Africa and India. These countries offered to do so last year. Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova to work out the issue. “Safety can only be ensured if vaccines are used in the vast majority of countries in the world. Then population-based immunity in the broadest sense of the word will develop,” Putin said. Russia has already transferred coronavirus vaccine production technology to Belarus and Argentina.