Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/248628 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Research Paper No. 129
Publisher: 
South Centre, Geneva
Abstract: 
Despite multilateral commitments and political statements of solidarity and cooperation to guarantee the availability and access to COVID-19 vaccines (and other relevant technologies for control and treatment), the scenario after the beginning of vaccination is marked by the deepening of vaccine nationalism, the concentration of inputs and vaccines production, and the uneven distribution of options of vaccine doses already approved for use. This pattern of production restrictions and unequal access will lead to an increase in international inequalities, leaving a large part of the world to have access to vaccines not until 2024. While advanced purchase agreements (APAs) among pharmaceutical companies and some developed countries are multiplying, the proposed mechanisms for voluntary licensing of technologies and the COVAX Facility do not achieve their goal of democratizing access to vaccines. In this sense, the current TRIPS (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver proposal seems to be the political and institutional response with the greatest potential to guarantee the scaling of the production of pharmaceutical inputs, allowing the adoption of a comprehensive strategy to ensure timely, sufficient, and affordable access to all technologies developed to fight COVID-19.
Subjects: 
Access to COVID-19 Tools (Accelerator) - (ACT)
Access to Medicines
Advanced Purchase Agreements (APAs)
Big Pharma
Coronavirus
COVAX Facility
COVID-19
Diagnostics
Global Health
Health
Health Technologies
India
Innovation
Intellectual Property
Medical Technology
Pandemic
Public Health
Research and Development (R&D)
South Africa
South-South Cooperation
TRIPS
TRIPS Council
TRIPS Waiver
United Nations (UN)
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
Vaccine Nationalism
Vaccines
World Health Assembly (WHA)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Document Type: 
Research Report
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