Pharmaceutical companies also oppose the waiver request, which they argue would undermine the financial incentives that encourage them to invest heavily in the development of life-saving drugs.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had hoped to finish work on the vaccine issue as part of a wider health and trade package at the group’s 12th Ministerial Conference last November. But that meeting was abruptly postponed after the emergence of the Omicron variant led to new flight restrictions. The meeting still has not been rescheduled.
In late January, Okonjo-Iweala called on members “to move with all speed” to reach a deal on the vaccine patent issue and other trade-related health measures by the end of February.
“It will be really sad if this organization keeps talking and debating on this pandemic, and that by the time we come up with a response people will not think it relevant,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
She has been meeting in recent months with the U.S., the EU, India and South Africa in an effort to broker a deal. “But it is very tough. I have to say there is no easy road,” she told members at a Jan. 27 meeting.
Indeed, one week after Okonjo-Iweala called for a redoubling of efforts to agree this month on a broad package of measures to respond to the pandemic, WTO General Council Chair Dacio Castillo of Honduras concluded that a “strategic pause” was needed in his talks with members to give them more time to meet with each other and work out their many differences.
What the groups are asking: In their letter, the advocacy groups called on Biden to put pressure on the EU to drop its opposition by directing U.S. trade negotiators to issue a joint text with South Africa and India that would temporarily waive intellectual property protections on all Covid-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. Then Biden should up the ante by calling for a special emergency meeting of the General Counsel within 30 days to approve the proposal, the groups say.
They urged Biden to “publicly share vaccine-making recipes that were developed with U.S. taxpayer support.” They also said the U.S. should create incentives or compel pharmaceutical companies and other intellectual property holders to share vaccine, diagnostic and medicine-making patent rights, data rights and technical know-how with qualified producers around the world.
However, Republicans in Congress have criticized the Biden administration for supporting a waiver just for vaccines, which they argue would hand valuable intellectual property over to adversaries such as Russia and China.
In a third area, the groups want Biden to announce funding and other support to boost vaccine, diagnostic and treatment manufacturing capacity in Africa, Latin America and Asia and for vaccination, testing and treatment programs in low- and middle-income countries.
Next steps: The WTO General Council, when it meets on Wednesday and Thursday, is expected to discuss possible dates for rescheduling the MC12 meeting, with June seen as the most likely month. Without a change in the negotiating dynamic in Geneva, the health and trade talks could limp along until then.
The White House plans to host another global Covid-19 summit in March to call on other countries to put up additional resources to help poorer nations build the necessary infrastructure to launch more comprehensive inoculation campaigns.