The Office of the US Trade Representative endorsed waiving patents and other intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines to aide vaccine production worldwide. Many congressional Democrats have called on the Administration to help expand vaccine supply in other nations, but the Administration’s support of the waiver is sure to face substantial pushback from the pharmaceutical industry that argues it will harm competitiveness and strain the supply chain. The waiver will have to be unanimously approved by the World Trade Organization to take effect, but the Biden Administration’s position will likely put pressure on other countries to support the change. The President also announced this week that the White House will ship 60 million vaccine doses overseas within the next two months.
