European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on May 6 that the EU is “ready to discuss” the proposal to cancel U.S. patents on coronary vaccines to speed up vaccine production and sales, while she urged Britain and the United States to first lift vaccine export restrictions. She said the EU has exported more than 200 million doses of the vaccine to 90 countries.
Until now, the EU was not in favor of canceling vaccine patents, arguing that the program would take more time due to a lack of immediately available production resources and that distant water would not quench the thirst.
The EU’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, said Monday that “it takes between one year and 14 months for a patent to be transferred to production (……) . This can be considered next year when we succeed in increasing the production of the plant”.
But Brussels now appears to be opening that door. European Commission President von der Leyen said today that “the EU is ready to discuss any proposal that would resolve the crisis in an “effective and pragmatic” way, and “discuss how this U.S. proposal could achieve these goals.”
Exports should be released first
However, Ms. von der Leyen believes it is imperative that the U.K. and U.S. lift restrictions on vaccine exports as soon as possible. Speaking today at a video conference at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, she noted that the EU is currently “the world’s largest exporter of vaccines. She called on other countries that produce vaccines to lift restrictions on exporting them. For now, we call on all vaccine producers to authorize exports and to avoid all restrictions that could disrupt the supply chain of medicines,” she said.
AFP said the above statement by European Commission President von der Leyen was directed at Britain and the United States because Britain has not in fact exported any vaccines produced on its territory. The U.S. president, on the other hand, issued a decision to strictly prevent the export of vaccines and restrict the export of vaccine components.
EU exports 200 million doses
In contrast, “the EU exports vaccines to the world, from Japan to Colombia to Mexico, the EU has exported vaccines to more than 90 countries,” making the EU “the world’s pharmacy” and “the only democratic region that exports vaccines on a large scale,” said European Commission President von der Leyen. She added that “more than 200 million doses of vaccines produced in Europe have been exported, which is equivalent to the amount of vaccines provided to its own citizens.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that it supports the cancellation of the patent on the coronavirus vaccine and said Washington is “actively” participating in the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations to that end.
India and South Africa had previously made specific requests to temporarily cancel the coronavirus vaccine patent so that production could be accelerated. But the request was fiercely opposed by some countries, including France.
French President Emmanuel Macron told the media today that he supports Washington’s proposal to revoke the patent rights of the coronavirus vaccine. He claimed that the anti-coronavirus vaccine should be treated as a global public asset.
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