When it comes to the availability of vaccinations and other medications, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has established a dichotomous relationship between the question of Human Rights and the protection of Intellectual Property Rights. Taking note of the situation, nations such as India and South Africa have petitioned for a temporary waiver of some terms of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.[1] In support of the idea, more than 100 countries, many of whom are struggling to deal with the pandemic, have expressed their support.[2] Only a small percentage of high-income countries, on the other hand, have expressed dissatisfaction with the idea.[3]
India and South Africa believe that the waiver of intellectual property rights will benefit middle-income countries by creating more space for production of drugs with “emergency use authorisations (EUA)” – such as those developed by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, and Bharat Biotech – because the vast majority of production is concentrated in high-income countries only. Middle-income countries were only able to produce vaccines through “licencing or technology transfer agreements” according to the World Bank. Essentially, the main goal of submitting this request was to ensure that vaccine manufacturing could be scaled up quickly while also ensuring that vaccines were accessible and affordable to everybody.
[1] Latha Jishnu, “Coronavirus vaccines: TRIPS waiver caught in WTO labyrinth”, Down to Earth, 14 July 2021
[2] Sam Meredith, “Rich countries are refusing to waive the rights on Covid vaccines as global cases hit record levels”, CNBC, 22 April 2021
[3] Human Rights Watch, “Urgently Waive Intellectual Property Rules for Vaccine: Right to Life, Public Health Demand Extraordinary Cooperation, Sharing”, 10 December 2020
