EU supports COVID-19 vaccine patent waiver talks, but critics say won't solve scarcity

BRUSSELS/NEW YORK -The European Union on Thursday backed a US proposal to discuss waiving patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, but drugmakers and some other governments opposed the idea, saying it would not solve global inoculation shortages.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told member states that she"warmly welcomed" the US move."We need to respond urgently to COVID-19 because the world is watching and people are dying," she said.World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reached for capital letters in a tweet calling Biden's move a"MONUMENTAL MOMENT IN THE FIGHT AGAINST #COVID19," and said it reflected"the wisdom and moral leadership of the United States.

Germany, the EU's biggest economic power and home to a large pharmaceutical sector, rejected the idea, saying vaccine shortages were due to limited production capacity and quality standards rather than patent protection issues. The pharmaceutical industry's main lobbying group, PhRMA, said:"This decision does nothing to address the real challenges to getting more shots in arms, including last-mile distribution and limited availability of raw materials."

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