US to hold WTO talks on COVID vaccine distribution Coronavirus pandemic News

The Biden administration is under increasing pressure to help lower-income nations get the coronavirus they need.

The US Trade Representative will begin discussions with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on how to distribute COVID-19 vaccines as a country the face is under increasing pressure to help other nations obtain the necessary possessions.

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said on Sunday that U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will make agreements with the WTO “on how we can get this vaccine distributed, give more licenses, get a wider way to share.”

“We’ll tell you more about that in the coming days,” Klain said in an interview on CBS News’s Face the Nation program.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has called for the waiver of intellectual property rights over coronavirus vaccines so that more countries can manufacture the doses.

The U.S., which has had the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, has increased its population vaccines this year, and nearly 56% of adults have received at least one jab so far. according to To data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But many other countries have been unable to rapidly integrate the population between the global vaccine supply and other challenges – and public health experts say the U.S. should do more promote global vaccine equity.

Last month, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) he asked rich nations to stop blocking patent exemptions COVID-19 to help countries with lower incomes for vaccines ensure doses.

The US said last week that this was the case considering his options maximizing the global production and supply of vaccines at the lowest possible cost, including supporting the proposal to waive intellectual property rights, but no decision was taken.

Jiden Sullivan Biden, a national security adviser, said on Sunday that the administration believes that pharmaceutical companies “should supply the world at a scale and cost so that everyone is not hindered from getting the vaccine.”

Tai’s office did not respond to an electronic request for further details from The Associated Press agency.

Also on Sunday, U.S. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders said that while the U.S. must ensure that all citizens are vaccinated as soon as possible, it has a “moral obligation” to get owners from other countries as well.

“I think what we need to say to drug companies right now, when millions of lives in the world are at stake, yes – allow other countries to have those intellectual property rights to create the necessary vaccines. Poor countries,” Sanders said. conversation NBC News’ Meet the Press.

“Well, there’s something rich about rich countries being able to get that vaccine, and yet millions and billions of people in poor countries can’t afford it.”