As of today, about 66% of the American population has received a full vaccination dose for the COVID-19 virus. In low income countries, fewer than 15% of all citizens have been vaccinated. Why may you ask? Vaccines are not available to these people due to the ongoing conflict of Intellectual Property Waivers.  

 

An IP waiver is a document that gives someone permission to manufacture a product that was conceptualized by someone else. 

 

In this case, pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Europe are trying to find an effective way to bring vaccines to other countries. They are trying to use an IP waiver to allow these countries to produce the drugs without the risk of them being sued by pharmaceutical firms for IP theft. 

 

A majority of countries were sympathetic to this idea; nevertheless, many European Nations have been opposed. Still, they have begun to accept the fact that IP needs to be shared during this health crisis to help save lives in more low income countries. 

 

However, this is not the major issue. The main concern is the amount of time it has been taking to come to an agreement.

 

Representatives of the EU, India, South Africa, and the United States have been meeting at the World Trade Center to discuss this matter. Early last month, they decided that the compulsory-licensing process could be accelerated. They also stated that companies could only make one application per vaccine. 

 

Now, an IP application takes approximately one to three years to form, possibly more. At this rate, people will not be getting vaccines for another few years. That isn’t even counting the quantities of applications that will be declined by pharmaceutical organizations. 

 

So far, no countries have even been given the patent to produce the vaccines. Even when this is finally passed, applications will take up even more additional years that these people do not have. 

 

In America, unvaccinated citizens are still at a lower risk for getting the COVID-19 virus because we are overall healthy people. Us citizens have satisfactory healthcare systems and our living conditions are generally suitable. 

 

Many people in these low income countries are living in poverty. They have very little ways to protect themselves from COVID-19 due to their inferior healthcare systems, so their infection risk is extremely high. In addition to that, their living conditions are unsatisfactory. Substandard housing such as water leaks, poor ventilation, dirty carpets and pest infestation can lead to an increase in mold, mites and other allergens associated with poor health. This may hamper their immune systems, meaning if they get the virus, they would be more symptomatic, especially since the dominant strain at the moment is Omicron, which is proven to sicken even its strongest recipients.

 

Evidently, these people want and need vaccines. This considered, I believe all of this debate is frivolous. This IP waiver needs to be approved immediately so vaccines can be produced and given to people in other countries. 

 

Now, I understand that IP security is imperative. It can not just be given away without careful consideration. These documents are complex, and they need to be studied attentively. No hasty decisions can be made when dealing with something of this significance. 

 

However, how long is too long? This is a life or death matter that is taking way too long to establish. This predicament is definitely corrigible, but people are more focused on the potential IP complications that may occur than the actual lives this will save. A consensus needs to be formed immediately because time is running out. Time that is being wasted.