South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made a passionate case for the suspension of Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine patents at a Brussels summit of EU and African leaders on Friday – and was rebutted by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“We are talking about the lives of hundreds of millions of people, rather than the profitability of a few companies,” Rampahosa said at a joint news conference,
While donations are appreciated, governments that are serious about global vaccine access should back the temporary suspension of Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on medical technology linked to COVID-19, he said.
Talks on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) proposal – put forward by South Africa and India in 2020 as a way to help lower-income states produce their own shots – are in a stalemate.
The European Union is lukewarm on the proposal, with the commission arguing instead for existing WTO flexibilities to be used and for global production capacity to be built up through other means.
Sceptics of a TRIPS waiver argue that sharing the technical know-how on production is more important than the formula itself to boost supply.
On stage with Ramaphosa, von der Leyen described intellectual property as a “precious good,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said it was not the intellectual property that was frustrating supply in the short term, but technology transfer.
The EU – with a vaccination rate of 71 per cent – has donated close to 145 million doses so far to African states, where the average inoculation rate stands at 12 per cent.
All parties welcomed the launch of a global mRNA vaccine tech-transfer initiative backed by the World Health Organization on Friday.
The first location in South Africa is to be followed by sites in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia. (dpa/NAN)
