US senators call on Biden to back COVID vaccine patent waiver

Relaxing intellectual property rules would allow more countries to quickly manufacture vaccines, proponents argue.

Ten Democratic and progressive senators are urging US President Joe Biden to back India and South Africa’s appeal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations. The lawmakers, in a letter delivered to the White House on Thursday, wrote that Biden should “prioritize people over pharmaceutical company profits” and support the temporary waiver that could pave the way for generic or other manufacturers to make more vaccines, particularly in low- and middle-income countries who have struggled to gain access to doses. The group comprises independent Senator Bernie Sanders, along with Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin, Sherrod Brown, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Murphy, Edward Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen and Raphael Warnock of Georgia.