Author: Emrah Altindis
Introduction: …Ending this global pandemic seems unlikely with the current patent and technology sharing systems because (i) the number of available vaccine doses is limited by the production capacity of the companies owning the patents, recipes, and technology and (ii) the inequitable distribution of the limited supply of vaccines throughout the world. India and South Africa put forward a proposal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to temporarily suspend intellectual property rights and gained the support of over two-thirds of the member countries including the USA. However, several wealthy countries still oppose this proposal, including the European Union, which procured 6.9 doses for each inhabitant, as well as the United Kingdom and Canada, which respectively procured 8.2 and 10.1 vaccines doses for each inhabitant [2].
Citation: Emrah Altindis (2022) Inequitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution and the intellectual property rights prolong the pandemic, Expert Review of Vaccines, 21:4, 427-430, DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2022.2014819
