US President Joe Biden Urged Not To Accept India, South Africa’s Proposal at WTO On COVID-19 Vaccine

FOUR top Republicans Senator on Friday urged US President Joe Biden not to accept a proposal by India and South Africa to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) 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