Sen. Bernie Sanders and a group of Democrats on Friday urged President Joe Biden to support an international push to temporarily suspend certain vaccine-related intellectual property rights, a proposal the lawmakers called a “vital” step toward speeding global inoculation campaigns and ending the coronavirus pandemic.

Led by South Africa and India and backed by more than 100 World Trade Organization (WTO) member nations, the proposed patent waiver would enable manufacturers to replicate vaccine formulas that are currently under the exclusive control of major pharmaceutical companies, whose profit-driven approach has left huge swaths of the developing world without access to life-saving shots.

“Allowing countries to manufacture locally will expedite access to vaccines and treatment, prevent unnecessary deaths, expedite global vaccination efforts, and facilitate a stronger, faster economic recovery.”
—Letter

“Allowing countries to manufacture locally will expedite access to vaccines and treatment, prevent unnecessary deaths, expedite global vaccination efforts, and facilitate a stronger, faster economic recovery,” the senators wrote in a letter (pdf) to Biden Friday morning. “Simply put, we must make vaccines, testing, and treatments accessible everywhere if we are going to crush the virus anywhere.”

In addition to Sanders, the letter was led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and signed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).

Despite widespread support for the patent waiver among the international community, former heads of state, Nobel laureates, hundreds of civil society groups, and the head of the World Health Organization, a handful of rich countries—including the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Canada—have repeatedly blocked the proposal since it was introduced in October.

In a press release Friday announcing the new letter, Sanders’ office pointed to a Data for Progress survey released Thursday showing that 60% of U.S. voters—72% of Democrats, 57% of Independents, and 50% of Republicans—want Biden to support the temporary patent waiver.

“Your administration has the opportunity to reverse the damage done by the Trump administration to our nation’s global reputation and restore America’s public health leadership on the world stage,” the senators wrote. “To bring the pandemic to its quickest end and save the lives of Americans and people around the world, we ask that you prioritize people over pharmaceutical company profits by reversing the Trump position and announcing U.S. support for the WTO TRIPS waiver.”

The letter comes weeks ahead of the WTO’s May 5-6 meeting, during which member nations are expected to consider the patent waiver as well as other proposals aimed at addressing massive vaccine inequities.

As Common Dreams reported on Wednesday, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has advocated a “third way” approach that critics warn would leave vaccine recipes and manufacturing under the total control of pharmaceutical corporations, entrenching global inequities and prolonging the fight against Covid-19.

Click Here: parramatta eels shirt

“Global supply should not be dependent on the purely commercial prerogatives and exclusive rights of pharmaceutical companies holding the technology,” 250 civil society organizations wrote in a letter (pdf) to Okonjo-Iweala earlier this week. “There is simply too much at stake. In the context of WTO, temporarily waiving relevant intellectual property rules that reinforce monopolies is an important contribution.”

On top of robust international support and the backing of Senate Democrats, a growing coalition of U.S. House members is also urging the Biden administration to end U.S. obstruction of the patent waiver. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) has reportedly garnered more than 60 signatures for a letter urging Biden to support the proposal.

“There are so many voices now getting to the president that I still feel optimistic that the right thing can be done by the United States,” Schakowsky told The Hill last month.