FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTONThe United States waives patent protection on Covid vaccines. a turning point of great importance, which could allow countries in great difficulty, such as India and Brazil, to make anti-virus serum at home. The announcement came yesterday with a note signed by Katherine Tai, Representative for Commerce, one of Joe Biden’s closest associates: This is a global health crisis. And exceptional circumstances call for exceptional measures. We strongly believe in the protection of intellectual property. But we want put an end to the pandemic and therefore we are in favor of an exemption for vaccines against Covid-19. At this point the US government will participate in the negotiations already underway in the WTO, World Trade Organization.
International pressures
International pressure began already in October 2020, right at the WTO headquarters
. India and South Africa had asked the large phial-producing countries, the USA in the lead, to renounce patent protection. But first Donald Trump, then Joe Biden took sides in defense of corporate rights. In recent weeks, however, the Indian and Brazilian catastrophe have changed the scenario. Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Biden directly: Let us use your vaccine formula. A request also supported by Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, and, in the American Congress, by some parliamentarians of the majority, such as Senator Bernie Sanders. Biden took time until yesterday, when he decided to give the green light. In practice, according to the assessments of the WTO, several countries could be ready to produce vaccines in a few months: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sudafrica, Indonesia e Senegal.
Problems in the house
At the same time Biden is facing a inverse problem in the United States. The pace of vaccinations dropped dramatically, down from 3-3.3 million at the day in mid-April to around 2.2 million at the beginning of May. No longer a question of stocks or distribution. Indeed, some states have unexpectedly found themselves with full refrigerators. Thousands of vials went to waste. Biden gave the Michigan example, recalling how, last month, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer had insisted on getting more supplies, but not using them in full. So much so that on Tuesday 3 May the president announced the establishment of a centralized platform that will manage surpluses with flexibilityby moving unexploited stocks from one territory to another.
Biden went straight to the key point: the downward trend seems to indicate that the vaccination campaign is now ahead to the wall of skeptics, of insecure or worried people, net of the ideological positions of the no vax. The US leader has set a new goal: to rise to 70% of fully immunized adults by 4 July, Independence Day. That means 160 million Americans. At the moment the counter stops at 106 million: 55 are missing.
The White House, then, wants multiply the proximity structures, in the suburbs of large cities or in rural areas, in order to meet the most hesitant. It will also start a massive advertising operation to promote vaccines, with investments of $ 1.7 billion on TV and social networks.
May 5, 2021 (change May 5, 2021 | 23:14)
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