<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/30/perspectives/wto-vaccine-restrictions-covid/index.html" class="">https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/30/perspectives/wto-vaccine-restrictions-covid/index.html</a><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 class="pg-headline" data-act-id="article_head_0" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 40px; margin: 0px auto; font-family: "CNN Business", CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 46px; padding: 8px 0px 0px; font-feature-settings: "kern"; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; color: rgb(26, 26, 26); letter-spacing: 0.2px;">The pandemic will continue to rage as long as the WTO keeps bickering over vaccine rules</h1><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class=""><div class="el__leafmedia--sourced-paragraph el__leafmedia" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(115, 115, 115); color: rgb(115, 115, 115); font-size: 14px;" class=""><span class="metadata__byline__author" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Opinion by Joseph Stiglitz and Lori Wallach for <a href="https://www.cnn.com/business" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(115, 115, 115); transition: color 0.2s;" class="">CNN Business</a> Perspectives</span></div><p class="metadata__show" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; caret-color: rgb(115, 115, 115); color: rgb(115, 115, 115); font-size: 14px;"></p><p class="update-time" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.5em auto 2em; float: left; line-height: 1; caret-color: rgb(115, 115, 115); color: rgb(115, 115, 115); font-size: 14px;">Updated 1:24 PM ET, Tue November 30, 2021</p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><p class="speakable zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_FC8F604C-A713-818E-FF6A-6CAFF528B715" data-act-id="paragraph_1" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66666667;">If international organizations are subject to karma, last week's abrupt postponement of the <a href="https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/IP/C/W669R1.pdf&Open=True" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">World Trade Organization</a> (WTO) Ministerial Conference, the body's first major decision-making gathering in four years, was fated to be. News of the emergence of Omicron, the latest coronavirus variant, not only caused the meeting to be delayed but it also shined a light on how the international community has failed to get the virus under control. </p></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_E36BB97D-8ECB-8E57-E5CE-71F5F8672983" data-act-id="paragraph_2" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);">Over the past two years, the global scientific community has figured out the pathogen that causes Covid-19 and developed vaccines and antivirals to fight the virus. Rapid production has meant that everyone in wealthy countries who wanted a vaccine has gotten one. But the market, on its own, has failed to provide enough for the rest of the world.</div><ul class="cn--idx-4 cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn-zoneAdContainer cn" data-layout="list-hierarchical-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"></ul><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_5B9A82CE-2C0F-39B1-D49B-71F5F868B4AE" data-act-id="paragraph_3" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);">Since October 2020, a large number of WTO member countries have sought a temporary waiver of the organization's expansive intellectual property restrictions, which limit the production of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests to certain pharmaceutical companies. But a few WTO members have blocked this initiative, which is needed to ensure sufficient supply of Covid-19 medicines to inoculate the world and end the variant cycle that otherwise will indefinitely prolong the pandemic.</div></div><div class=""><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_1C6FCC7F-09B3-B45A-0105-71F5F86A0602" data-act-id="paragraph_4" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);">The WTO must not postpone this decision. It needs to call an online meeting of its General Council and adopt the waiver this week. </div><ul class="cn--idx-8 cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn-zoneAdContainer cn" data-layout="list-hierarchical-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"></ul><ul class="cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn--idx-9 cn-zoneAdContainer cn" data-layout="list-hierarchical-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"></ul><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_EFACE576-BCDA-3B99-1B9C-71F5F86C3EF4" data-act-id="paragraph_5" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38);">While citizens in wealthy countries are already on to their boosters, fewer than 7% in <a href="https://data.undp.org/vaccine-equity/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">low-income countries</a> have even had their first shot. </div><div class="zn-body__read-all" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); color: rgb(38, 38, 38); font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_78E0B36C-008C-BC8B-AA7B-71F5F8705361" data-act-id="paragraph_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">As the Omicron variant shows, as long as there are raging outbreaks anywhere, Covid-19 will mutate and the possibility of more infectious or deadly strains increases. That's why, unless people everywhere are vaccinated, we face the prospect of an endless pandemic.</div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_78E0B36C-008C-BC8B-AA7B-71F5F8705361" data-act-id="paragraph_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254);" class="">The underlying problem is a lack of global supply. The world required at least 11 billion </span><a href="https://launchandscalefaster.org/covid-19/vaccinemanufacturing" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">doses</a><span style="background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254);" class=""> for 2021 before boosters and vaccination of children began. Billions of </span><a href="https://preventepidemics.org/covid19/science/review/november-1-2021/#The_glut_of_COVID-19_vaccines_is_a_myth:_How_we_can_%E2%80%94_and_must_%E2%80%94_remove_barriers_to_vaccinating_the_world_against_COVID-19" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">doses</a><span style="background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254);" class=""> will be needed every year for boosters and to combat new variants, and universal access to the promising new anti-virals will be crucial to save the lives of those who do get infected.</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_78E0B36C-008C-BC8B-AA7B-71F5F8705361" data-act-id="paragraph_6" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;"><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_C43851F1-F35E-CA6D-1DB7-71F5F8743A9F" data-act-id="paragraph_8" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">The WTO waiver is an obvious way of increasing supply and helping put an end to the pandemic for good. </div><div class=""><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_5ECB3498-BB59-5036-76B6-71F5F8764BBB" data-act-id="paragraph_9" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">The WTO's <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel2_e.htm" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)</a>, which went into force in 1995, requires the organization's member nations to enforce expansive intellectual property restrictions domestically. Last year, South Africa and India proposed a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/05/world/covid-19-vaccine-patents-wto-intl/index.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">temporary suspension</a> of the TRIPS barriers for Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests. This would allow the many qualified producers in developing countries to manufacture effective vaccines and other Covid medicines rather than face death and economic devastation while waiting for drug companies and rich countries to send help their way. </div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_9A158C14-741E-EB75-F4C4-71F5F8786A94" data-act-id="paragraph_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">It's only fair play. The highly effective mRNA vaccines now on the market were developed using billions in US and European government (meaning taxpayer) funds. </div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_7EB6F294-E79E-F32D-8A0F-71F5F87B0AF9" data-act-id="paragraph_11" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">Health advocates have long <a href="https://msfaccess.org/spotlight-trips-trips-plus-and-doha" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">warned</a> of TRIPS' danger for developing countries' access to medicine, but no one imagined that advanced countries would put drug company profits above the well-being of their own citizens. The Biden administration initially won praise for supporting the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/05/politics/vaccine-patent-waivers/index.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">WTO waiver</a> back in May. President Biden's statement on <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/26/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-the-omicron-covid-19-variant/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">Omicron</a> last week urged countries to adopt the waiver now. But the President has put too little effort into actually achieving final agreement at the WTO to enact the waiver. </div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_CB5151F6-198E-FE64-7023-71F5F87DD3A1" data-act-id="paragraph_12" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">Now another October has come and gone, and while more than 100 countries support a <a href="https://www.msf.org/countries-obstructing-covid-19-patent-waiver-must-allow-negotiations" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">waiver</a>, the European Union, pushed by Germany, plus Switzerland and the United Kingdom, continue to oppose. They are exploiting the WTO's consensus decision-making practices, and the unusually passive role the US is playing in the negotiations to block the waiver, even as millions of people die waiting to be inoculated.</div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_38AB9D12-9291-2CBC-4600-71F5F8828C3A" data-act-id="paragraph_13" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">Western market democracies are taking a major reputational hit for denying billions of people in poor countries access to life-saving vaccines and treatments. And the WTO is rightly viewed globally as an obstacle to ending the pandemic. An international "rule of law" and an economic system that puts profits over lives is not going to win the hearts and minds of those in the rest of the world.</div></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_38AB9D12-9291-2CBC-4600-71F5F8828C3A" data-act-id="paragraph_13" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;"><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_30BA0A35-51F2-1D33-4839-7211B3EB918E" data-act-id="paragraph_14" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">Meanwhile, China and Russia have been working with governments throughout the developing world to build <a href="https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/how-much-will-vaccine-inequity-cost/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">vaccine production facilities</a>. China has already provided <a href="https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/04/29/why-chinas-vaccine-diplomacy-is-winning/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">doses</a> to more than 80 countries that total nearly half of the more than 7 billion administered <a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/health/global-covid-vaccinations/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">worldwide</a>, and just announced a plan to send one billion additional doses to Africa. Russia has shared its vaccine technology widely. Both countries have been vigorously and successfully waging <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/11/china/china-russia-covid-vaccine-dst-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">vaccine diplomacy</a>, although it has not been without <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/11/china/china-russia-covid-vaccine-dst-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">controversy</a>. </div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_6CF21F29-6209-3B37-297F-71F5F8877659" data-act-id="paragraph_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">China's existing Sinovac and Sinopharm shots are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8377801/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">less effective</a> and its two homegrown mRNA vaccines are still in <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3155739/china-approves-trials-using-mrna-vaccine-booster-shot" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">final trials</a>. (BioNTech, the German firm partnering with Pfizer, also shared its mRNA vaccine technology with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, but only for sales within China.) Russia's Sputnik V production has encountered problems, and there is a limited supply of its shots. Yet even so, to a lot of the world it looks like autocracies value lives and democracies value profits. </div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_C0ACD35C-4C61-CAE6-56E9-71F5F88844D1" data-act-id="paragraph_16" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">It is imperative for the US to exert leadership and get the WTO to organize an emergency online General Council meeting this week to deliver a meaningful waiver deal.</div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_D75366A1-3E56-7FD7-EEDC-71F5F88AD2BD" data-act-id="paragraph_17" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">Back in September, the Biden administration underscored the importance of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/09/24/global-covid-19-summit-ending-the-pandemic-and-building-back-better/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s; -webkit-box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-shadow: rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset, rgb(0, 197, 158) 0px -1px 0px inset;" class="">vaccinating</a> 70% of the world's population. The recent announcement about the administration's plan to work with companies in figuring out how to increase production spotlights the ongoing shortages. But how many more doses that proposal delivers — and when — remains unclear. </div><ul class="cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn--idx-27 cn-zoneAdContainer cn" data-layout="list-hierarchical-xs" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; font-size: 15px;"></ul><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_5DB71EB8-05B9-54A3-302B-71F5F88B5B39" data-act-id="paragraph_18" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">Omicron highlights the urgency of the WTO waiver. The President needs to put pressure on the few countries, all close US allies, that are holding out so production can ramp up around the world. None of this will happen without stronger US leadership. And, to put it in a narrow-minded way, nothing could be more important to the health of Americans and the American economy. </div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" data-paragraph-id="paragraph_75DAB5ED-A09B-F0DF-4AAC-71F5F88E4329" data-act-id="paragraph_19" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.66666667; margin-right: 0px;">In delivering the WTO waiver and leading the mission to end the Covid-19 pandemic, Biden has a golden opportunity to restore US standing around the world and revive his domestic support, which has been hard hit by continuing public anxiety about this seemingly endless pandemic.</div></div><div class=" bx-brand-17034 bx-custom bx-type-agilityzone bxc bx-width-default bx-active-step-1 bx-has-close-inside bx-base bx-has-close-x-1 bx-impress bx-fx-fade bx-campaign-1426697" id="bx-campaign-1426697" aria-hidden="false" aria-labelledby="bx-campaign-ally-title-1426697" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; 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background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"><div class="bx-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: inherit; display: inline-block; vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px auto; width: 780px; padding: 10px; max-width: 100%;"><div id="bx-campaign-ally-title-1426697" class="bx-ally-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 1px; height: 1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; overflow: hidden; opacity: 0; position: fixed; z-index: -1;">Enter your email or view the Vault By CNN webpage to own a piece of CNN History with blockchain technology.</div><a id="bx-close-inside-1426697" class="bx-close bx-close-link bx-close-inside" data-click="close" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: inherit; transition: none; background-color: transparent; display: block; z-index: 1; vertical-align: middle; position: absolute; cursor: pointer; top: 5px; right: 5px; width: 24px; height: 24px; border-width: 0px; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; 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margin: 0px; text-align: inherit;" class=""><div class="bx-group-1426697-R2nZGh8 bx-group-R2nZGh8 bx-group bx-group-default" id="bx-group-1426697-R2nZGh8" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: 210px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"><div class="bx-row-image bx-row-image-logo bx-row-SEbIXYI bx-element-1426697-SEbIXYI bx-row" id="bx-element-1426697-SEbIXYI" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: auto; vertical-align: middle; line-height: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;"><img alt="vault by cnn" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: 50px; width: auto; max-width: 100%; float: none; background-size: contain; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" src="cid:9B9FB25E-62EE-4BEA-99EA-646C615D84B9@hsd1.pa.comcast.net." class=""></div></div><div class="bx-group-1426697-0HGajyp bx-group bx-group-0HGajyp bx-group-default" id="bx-group-1426697-0HGajyp" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: 520px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"><div class="bx-row-text-subheadline bx-element-1426697-Jm6GMwb bx-row-Jm6GMwb bx-row-text bx-row" id="bx-element-1426697-Jm6GMwb" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; width: 468px; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(161, 161, 161); font-size: 14px; cursor: default; line-height: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px 0px 12px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.33; float: none; height: auto; background-size: cover; font-size: 18px; padding: 0px; font-family: CNN, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;" class="">Join us as we open our archives for the first time to offer collectors the opportunity to own a piece of history.</div></div><div class="bx-row-submit-default bx-row-submit bx-row-zfR1T7c bx-element-1426697-zfR1T7c bx-row" id="bx-element-1426697-zfR1T7c" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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