EUCO/Corona

"We need to look beyond the European Union and boost the production and distribution of vaccines globally to tackle the Corona crisis. European governments should call on the Commission to end its blockade of a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights at the World Trade Organisation. It is totally unacceptable that the European Union and other rich countries around the world are buying up almost all the available vaccine doses while refusing to comply with the demands of India and South Africa for the temporary lifting of intellectual property rights for vaccines and medicines. Vaccination must not be the privilege of rich countries, vaccines must become available and affordable worldwide. No one is safe until everyone is safe. We call for global solidarity and full commitment from all EU governments to the World Health Organisation's initiative for the global exchange of knowledge and technology."

More

• MEPs in an open letter are calling on EU governments and the European Commission to stop blocking the lifting of intellectual property rights and allow global access to Corona vaccines.
• The General Council of the World Trade Organisation is expected to decide on the temporary waiver of intellectual property rights (TRIPS - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) on 1 and 2 March (Monday and Tuesday next week).
• Tomorrow (Thursday, 25 February from 4pm), ENVI/ITRE MEPs will question representatives of Astra Zeneca, BioNtech Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies on vaccine production and contracts in a joint hearing.
• Programme, Watch the hearing live

The World Health Organization's COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) is designed to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, data and intellectual property related to COVID-19 health technologies.