What the Moderna–NIH COVID vaccine patent fight means for research The plan was for the world to be vaccinated step by step, starting with the most vulnerable populations. When donor countries, philanthropic foundations and the WHO established COVAX at the start of the pandemic, they had a vision captured in the slogan “no one is safe until everyone is safe”. The COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) scheme for providing vaccines to low-income countries needs a shot in the arm. But the EU is resisting, partly because of the strength of opposition from European pharmaceutical companies that fear they will lose their market share if their competitors are allowed to use their designs. IP scholars such as Luke McDonagh at the London School of Economics and Political Science say IP relief for the duration of the pandemic will kick-start vaccine manufacturing around the world. The design and development of such therapies is concentrated in a relatively small number of companies that hold key patents, along with the US government. That is why more than 100 countries (including both China and the United States) and hundreds of organizations, including Nature, are supporting a campaign, led by India and South Africa and backed by the WHO, to temporarily waive intellectual-property (IP) rights to COVID-19 vaccines and drugs. But in the timeline laid out at the assembly, this pact wouldn’t be up for adoption until 2024 - and its passing is not a given. The World Health Organization (WHO) has voiced its strong support for a treaty, accord or other international instrument that might push leaders to follow the organization’s public-health recommendations on sharing data and vaccines. Omicron-variant border bans ignore the evidence, say scientists That project passed a huge milestone last week: the World Health Assembly, a meeting of health ministers from around the world, formally agreed to begin talks.
It would create rules to facilitate cooperation between countries during a pandemic, so that the next crisis can be better handled and no country will be left behind when it comes to diagnostics and treatment. European Union member states are instead focusing their energies on drafting a new international accord, or possibly a legally binding treaty. Scientists know that this cycle will prolong the pandemic - but world leaders are still failing to choose the fastest path out. Vaccines and diagnostics will come, but high-income countries will be the first to benefit. Tulio de Oliveira at South Africa’s Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation in Stellenbosch, who leads the team that alerted the world to Omicron, tweeted that African researchers had shared their COVID-19 data. Countries with many fully vaccinated people are placing new vaccine orders - but only 6% of people in low-income countries have had one dose. Travel restrictions are back, even though some have questionable efficacy when transmission of the virus is high. The response from world leaders, especially those from high-income countries, is making things worse. The arrival of Omicron - a newly discovered, highly mutated coronavirus variant that seems to be highly transmissible - is creating unease, uncertainty and disruption. The COVAX scheme for delivering vaccines to low-income countries needs some star power.
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