10 Democrats Ask Biden To Back India's Waiver Bid At WTO

The waiver would temporarily lift certain intellectual property barriers and allow countries to locally manufacture COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.

Ten Democratic Senators led by influential Bernie Sanders have urged US President Joe Biden to support India and South Africa's proposal to the WTO to temporarily lift certain intellectual property barriers and allow countries to locally manufacture COVID-19 diagnostics and vaccines, arguing that this is key to end the pandemic and a strong American recovery. Simultaneously, another group of 18 Republican lawmakers has written a separate letter to Biden against such a proposal, arguing that the US would lose vital research and development capacity needed to prepare for future pandemics and other health security threats. The Biden administration has not made a decision on the issue yet. The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver proposed by India and South Africa in October 2020 would temporarily lift certain intellectual property barriers and allow countries to locally manufacture COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.