Biden urged not to accept India and S African proposal at WTO on COVID-19

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ Four top Republicans Senator on Friday urged United States President Joe Biden not to accept a proposal by India and S Africa to the World Trade Organisation to waive anti-Covid vaccine patents to boost its supply.         

“India, South Africa and other countries are presenting a proposal at the World Trade Organisation to waive all intellectual property rights for any innovation related to COVID-19,” the group of four Republican Senators wrote in a letter to Biden.               

“The proponents of this scheme argue that if we just destroy the intellectual property developed by American companies, we will suddenly have more manufacturers producing COVID-19 vaccines, they said. In the letter, Senators Mike Lee, Tom Cotton, Joni Ernst and Todd Young urged Biden to reject the upcoming proposal at the WTO.     

“But the opposite is true. By destroying the intellectual property of every American company that has worked on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, we would be ending the progress — started under Operation Warp Speed — that led to the fastest development of life-saving vaccines in history,” the Senators wrote.