vaccines and patents

Hey team,

I came across this article today and I found it interesting. It sheds light on the intersection between  patents and accessibility of medical care. The director-general of the World Health Organization called to waive some IP rights (particularly patents) for the COVID-19 vaccines in order to make the vaccines more accessible. This has been mainly opposed by Western countries where major pharmaceuticals are based. Oppononets of such waiver say that this will diminish the incentive for companies to invest the time and money in future research and development.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/05/tedros-who-covid-vaccines-rights/