The Case for Waiving Intellectual Property Protection for Covid-19 Vaccines

The global community began this year with the singular aim of ending the Covid19 pandemic. This would only be possible if more and more people all over the world are vaccinated, and as quickly as possible. Given the enormous demand, the production of vaccines has to be increased manifold and followed by ensuring wider and equitable distribution. An IP waiver alone cannot accomplish such task. Increasing the production of vaccines and ensuring their equitable access would also require building the institutional capacity in several countries, overcoming systemic bottlenecks, and undertaking the necessary reforms in the administrative machinery and the legal framework. Nonetheless, a TRIPS waiver could be an important step in scaling up the production of the vaccines. 8 Voluntary efforts like COVAX that aim to accelerate the development and production of vaccines might not be enough, given the enormity of the challenge. While countries that have manufacturing capability can make use of TRIPS flexibilities like compulsory licenses, the same cannot be said about those that lack such capacity especially LDCs in Africa and Asia. The argument that suspending IP rights would be a disincentive for the pharmaceutical sector is untenable: given the huge demand, these companies are assured of returns. Moreover, pharmaceutical companies often benefit from public grants and public money including in the development of Covid-19 vaccines.[52] Therefore, it is legitimate that the benefits should be shared with the society at large. As the World Health Organization rightly says, “with a fast-moving pandemic, no one is safe, unless everyone is safe.Therefore, the global community needs to pull out all stops including a temporary TRIPS waiver