Biden is fighting an imbalance in the western pandemic
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We should see supreme transatlantic cooperation. Facing a common global threat seems like the right time. Instead, there is increasing friction. Last week Joe Biden blinded European leaders suspend file Covid vaccine patents. The White House was already outraged by the pandemic version of Donald Trump’s America First diplomacy. Unlike Europe, which has exported more than 100m doses of vaccine, the US still stores supplies. But this disparity seems trivial against complaints of global “vaccine apartheid”.
Biden’s resignation proposal was intended, in part, to oppose these charges. Thanks to vaccine technology from Pfizer and Modern, a U.S. president showed he could take a powerful pharmaceutical lobby. Foreign Trade Council specialist (and former colleague) as Edward Alden he arguesThe U.S. has donated home-made chunks in the world’s first round of trade to promote protections from major pharmacies. That’s why global vaccine patents are so strong. That’s why Biden’s announcement was very politically bold. If it deals with large pharmaceutical companies, could it have drugs to lower drug prices for U.S. consumers?
Instead, Biden has provoked a holy coalition of German Angela Merkel and French Emmanuel Macron, hawkisha Republican senators like Tom Cotton he thinks the refusal would give away US medical secrets to China and Russia) and almost all opposition US business lobbies. It was a small victory for the President win The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which opposed the revocation of vaccine patents earlier last week. But the result is that it could take months for Biden to reach a consensus at the World Trade Organization, which will blur the momentum of his movement.
That would be a shame, as it can be a big part of any western unit to defeat a delicate pandemic. Critics say such a move would punish innovators. But their case is exaggerated. Pfizer is set To make $ 26 billion in vaccine revenue with billions of margins this year. Modern is also on the rise. Some of the technologies came from National Institutes of Health funded by taxpayers exclusive non-licensing agreements to his science. Vaccines would not be marketed at such a rate without a major pre-purchase agreement to protect rapid regulatory acceptance and civil liability. Now is not the time to prioritize corporate super-profits.
A better criticism it would be difficult to refuse to turn production into rapid growth. It can be so. The technology is young and its processes are complex. However, if this were really the case, patent holders would not be afraid that the waiver would not create new competition. It seems that business lobbies are protesting too much. There are many rich countries, such as Japan and Canada, that can achieve mRNA processes quickly and export their surplus production worldwide. This can significantly reduce the global demand gap.
Compared to Biden, Europe has been a model for defending global supply chains. It has exported almost all the vaccines it has put into European arms. USAOn the contrary, it has begun to allow modest exports. India, which needs any supply that anyone can supply, has not yet received a share of the 60m AstraZeneca dose from the Biden administration. Although Biden has denied that there is a US embargo, in practice yes. It is possible to target 70 percent of Americans by the July 4 holiday. Should it be a higher priority than America’s roughly 50 million vaccine doubts that 5 billion adults around the world have no choice?
Both sides of the Atlantic have also condemned funding for the Covax facility, a WHO initiative to shoot at poor countries. If the US has it He has pledged $ 4 billion so far. That’s about 0.25 percent of the recently surpassed Biden size American rescue plan. $ -An3 billion, The EU is committed even less per Head than the US. There is a lot of penny wisdom and a pound of stupidity to walk around. It should be a concern that most vaccines have given so far Latin American – Washington’s backyard – They’re from China and Russia.
After the 9/11 attacks, George W Bush said America must fight terrorists abroad so that it does not have to deal with them at home. This logic is very appropriate for today’s fight against Covid-19. Unlike terrorists, the virus does not distinguish between home and abroad. Not even the West.
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