[CTC] Statements on TRIPS Waiver Announcement (round 2)

Thu May 6 09:23:57 PDT 2021

Some additional statements from NNU, ITUC, BIO and PhRMA…

For Immediate Release                                                                                     May 5, 2021 
Contact: press at nationalnursesunited.org <mailto:press at nationalnursesunited.org>

Nurses Applaud Biden Support for Vaccine Waiver
To Assist International Covid Pandemic Fight 

National Nurses United (NNU) today applauded the decision of the Biden administration to support waiving intellectual property (IP) protections to accelerate delivery of vaccines globally to aid the effort to save lives amid the still-escalating Covid-19 pandemic.

“With the horrific spread of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths in countries from India to Brazil that have been subject to unwarranted restrictions on access to lifesaving vaccines, it is up to all nations to assure the vaccines are available immediately worldwide,” said NNU President Jean Ross, RN.

“The welcome statement by President Biden’s U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai joining this effort is a landmark decision that is also a tribute to health care and human rights activists, and nurses in particular, around the world who have been pressing for this humanitarian step,” Ross added. Tai pledged the United States to participate in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations “to make it happen.”

Ross, in January, and NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, in April, participated in meetings with Ambassador Tai urging the administration’s support for the waiver. 

“As nurses on the front lines, we can tell you with absolute certainty: People are dying and will continue to die because of strict IP laws that are preventing the generic production of Covid vaccines,” Castillo said. “There is no time to waste; we need to urgently scale up the manufacturing of vaccines, and to do that, the WTO must grant this waiver.” 

“National Nurses United greatly appreciates President Biden’s support for this waiver so that vaccinations of people in low- and moderate-income countries can be ramped up immediately. We urge that negotiations on the waiver move quickly at the WTO.  It’s crucial that the pharmaceutical companies come to the table to transfer their technology and share their knowledge, and that investment in vaccine manufacturing capacity internationally be increased as soon as possible,” said Castillo.

Intellectual property rights, added Ross “are little more than a disgraceful effort to protect pharmaceutical profits at the expense of public health and safety. It is especially reprehensible in the midst of a pandemic that has already infected more than 150 million people and claimed more than 3 million lives.”

In early March, Global Nurses United, a federation of nurse and health care worker unions in 29 countries, including NNU, called on the WTO’s Council for Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) “to support the ‘Waiver from Certain Provisions <http://click.agilitypr.delivery/ls/click?upn=oLxCPiC2Ke7dCSEBlb40QJ-2BxcXDBLXFfgfUKYkp51fgECGA7qtDaVb-2BoyPiSx6D8PMcaYxLi-2B08DMClnmL2YNywjz99nR-2BGuVRLMBynQpZOL-2FSbtW-2BLZq6ceIAgyJc-2BzVIUC_-2BrggyxSRMpwjv71jJPnW-2FWu0lOt111uKnpGBY-2FiWS0eOpaY6uS-2FRn1XQNRsk8OcG4fM-2FPgkiBvMJsDkVz6hNywmdsEA0H97PVa8xkKhgwSrPiNxRfwSjsPISLmRtJspMaiaMKE4nhOdLLzDRQN2HNf3awuBm6S9IG3dLC16npaY-2BRGroCEsDjJHV2-2BLxKar4gEoR0dn9zlKQl1t4AgmPxcKLurKKcOuP4ajH9sN6hcXYS78yT42Fdq5oyhUY4mr5A1qgYOMQNZcTj29ZaTCO4QsXt4ewRdWjww68Q7RIxMe3q8UwoluyTIB0wApICZPOciHc9d4fcsbnD8asNyHMtBMTfXd1bmGfbrbZXlQtFnWjl-2Fz1EJB-2BnEZGToCNmg9BjWqesnbvig-2B-2Fw3PHofAEoviLWPwHlN4JBRp-2BZK-2FhyBI-3D> of the TRIPS Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19’ proposed by India and South Africa, and supported by more than 100 nations.” 

The letter noted that wealthy countries, especially the U.S. and Western Europe, dominate the vaccine supply and the billions of people living in lower-income, developing countries “may have to wait two years or more to get vaccinated because of the high prices being charged for Covid-19 vaccines. No one should die for drug company profits, especially during this global pandemic.”

“Nurses around the world,” the GNU members said, “believe strongly that, in the best interests of public health and ending the scourge of Covid-19, any and all treatments or vaccines that are shown to be safe and effective must be distributed equitably, and made available free at the point of service to all people.

“This virus,” said Castillo, “does not recognize national borders, and our nation has the opportunity to play an important role on the world stage to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have access to the treatments and vaccines at low cost. Intellectual property rules must not create barriers to health treatments that unnecessarily cost human lives and undermine the global economy."

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US administration’s support for COVID-19 vaccines’ TRIPS waiver a huge step forward

The announcement by the Biden administration that it will support the waiver of WTO TRIPS rules <https://4830a918a4654eb18741b3ac14f72005.svc.dynamics.com/t/t/0gDi90CRmNZehIssQ0c910raGu5st1Jcmrs1RP0myzYx/00Iwwa62K4M9HMdXCnqZHURH7aMk8w1l1RrWhZx9m5Yx> for COVID-19 vaccines is a major step towards bringing the pandemic under control.

The waiver, proposed by India and South Africa, has support from many other governments, but the European Union, the UK and Australia in particular have yet to agree.

Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said: “US support will hopefully break the stalemate on this vital question. All governments must stand up to the greed of pharmaceutical companies putting profits before people. The WTO TRIPS Council meeting on 8 and 9 June must be the moment to settle this matter, and in the meantime preparations to implement the waiver should be underway.”

The TRIPS rules mean only the companies that own patents on newer vaccine technologies, such as mRNA vaccines, can make the vaccines. This limits the speed with which vaccines such as mRNA vaccines can be supplied.

Richer countries have bought up these limited stocks, leaving little for poorer countries through the WHO COVAX facility <https://4830a918a4654eb18741b3ac14f72005.svc.dynamics.com/t/t/OnfKB6dc9bNoLv4JDdQpcSuNXzxZKmWFBkYqMfPhnhMx/00Iwwa62K4M9HMdXCnqZHURH7aMk8w1l1RrWhZx9m5Yx>. As a result, rich countries are vaccinating a person a minute <https://4830a918a4654eb18741b3ac14f72005.svc.dynamics.com/t/t/QTfWiei6h903MTcfV8mMQx9tMMytus4yZaBH0x5KLv0x/00Iwwa62K4M9HMdXCnqZHURH7aMk8w1l1RrWhZx9m5Yx>, including groups not at higher risk of death or severe disease, while most poor countries have yet to vaccinate anyone.

A risk to all

This imperils everybody. The longer it takes to vaccinate everyone, the more cases of Covid-19 there will be, and every case is a chance for the virus to evolve. If it evolves into a strain that the vaccine does not work against, then even vaccinated people will again be at risk. If more countries could make vaccines, however, vaccination would proceed faster and that risk would diminish.

Sharan Burrow added: “The potential to massively ramp up vaccine production exists, and several developing countries are already producing or preparing to produce vaccines that are based on established viral vector technology which is more openly available.

“This needs to happen with the newer mRNA technology and other approaches as well. Removing TRIPS barriers and supporting production capacity to ensure both knowledge and skills transfer would open the possibility for a major global effort to boost vaccine-manufacturing capacity, and also to overcome shortages of chemical inputs to manufacturing and other supply chain issues.

“Any intellectual property constraints on enabling universal access to Covid-19 tests, including rapid antigen tests, treatments and other public health tools, also need to be removed. Vaccines are crucial, but they must be supported by these other tools for bringing the pandemic under control. International cooperation to ensure that industry policy tackles these challenges is vital.

“The global effort must have two objectives: firstly, scaling up production and distribution of vaccines for the immediate challenges of the pandemic; and secondly, building vaccine resilience to handle Covid variants of concern, and indeed new pandemics in the future. All options should be explored, including the potential for regional production hubs.”

Trade union networks

The ITUC is also concerned about nationalistic politicisation of the pandemic, including vaccines, and calls on all governments to work together to bring the pandemic under control. Where vaccines are already available, the reluctance of some people to get vaccinated – often due to misinformation on social media – is a real problem.

Trade unions in many countries are deploying their networks of workplace delegates to ensure that workers, and the community at large, have the information needed to take an informed decision to get vaccinated.

“Science alone cannot get the world through this pandemic. The social and economic settings are also critical to ensure that maximum benefit can be obtained from scientific discovery. Investment in health, the care economy and social protection and the other elements of the new social contract <https://4830a918a4654eb18741b3ac14f72005.svc.dynamics.com/t/t/PnmIsHLdbk0Ach0frpZlueZycTSXrnW4SncgxLj1UC0x/00Iwwa62K4M9HMdXCnqZHURH7aMk8w1l1RrWhZx9m5Yx> are needed to protect people and suppress transmission of the virus,” said Sharan Burrow.

Read this article online <https://4830a918a4654eb18741b3ac14f72005.svc.dynamics.com/t/t/lsukCtWosURDyfkfKrTn4vwXuo6WdtBxaHbOqDDafPgx/00Iwwa62K4M9HMdXCnqZHURH7aMk8w1l1RrWhZx9m5Yx>

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) represents 200 million members of 332 affiliates in 163 countries and territories.

For more information, please contact the ITUC Press Department on +32 2 224 02 53 or by e-mail: press at ituc-csi.org <mailto:press at ituc-csi.org>

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BIO Chair Responds to Biden Decision on Vaccines

 5/6/21

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the Biden Administration's decision to waive patent protections for COVID vaccines and raise global production, Dr. Jeremy Levin, chairman of the global Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), issued the following statement:

"We are extremely disappointed by this decision. This is not just a matter of forcibly transferring IP and knowhow from America to other nations. 

BIO, together with others, put forward a viable and robust plan to create high-paying, skilled jobs in America which would have ensured not just high-quality manufacturing of vaccines, but rapidly accelerated delivery of these vaccines affordably to other nations. 

There was and is no need to rebuild factories around the world which will not only take a long time to accomplish, but also the standards and capabilities that exist in America cannot be easily replicated or guaranteed. 

In the future, this decision will act as a disincentive to companies to respond to the next pandemic."

Media Contact:
Dean Draznin Communications
dean at drazninpr.com <mailto:dean at drazninpr.com>
323-397-2647 

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PhRMA Statement on WTO TRIPS Intellectual Property Waiver
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 5, 2021) – Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) president and CEO Stephen J. Ubl made the following statement after the United States Trade Representative expressed support for a proposal to waive patent protections for COVID-19 medicines:

“In the midst of a deadly pandemic, the Biden Administration has taken an unprecedented step that will undermine our global response to the pandemic and compromise safety. This decision will sow confusion between public and private partners, further weaken already strained supply chains and foster the proliferation of counterfeit vaccines.

“This change in longstanding American policy will not save lives. It also flies in the face of President Biden’s stated policy of building up American infrastructure and creating jobs by handing over American innovations to countries looking to undermine our leadership in biomedical discovery. This decision does nothing to address the real challenges to getting more shots in arms, including last-mile distribution and limited availability of raw materials. These are the real challenges we face that this empty promise ignores.

“In the past few days alone, we’ve seen more American vaccine exports, increased production targets from manufacturers, new commitments to COVAX and unprecedented aid for India during its devastating COVID-19 surge. Biopharmaceutical manufacturers are fully committed to providing global access to COVID-19 vaccines, and they are collaborating at a scale that was previously unimaginable, including more than 200 manufacturing and other partnerships to date. The biopharmaceutical industry shares the goal to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, and we hope we can all re-focus on that shared objective.”

About PhRMA
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country’s leading innovative biopharmaceutical research companies, which are devoted to discovering and developing medicines that enable patients to live longer, healthier and more productive lives. Since 2000, PhRMA member companies have invested nearly $1 trillion in the search for new treatments and cures, including an estimated $83 billion in 2019 alone.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826

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