Pope Francis backs waivers on intellectual property rights for vaccines
FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis holds a weekly general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, April 28, 2021. Vatican Media/?Handout via REUTERS
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday supported waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, backing a proposal by U.S. President Joe Biden that has been rebuffed by some European nations, including Germany.
In a speech to a global fundraising concert to promote fair access to vaccines, the pope said the world was infected with the "virus of individualism".
"A variant of this virus is closed nationalism, which prevents, for example, an internationalism of vaccines," he said in the pre-recorded video message.
"Another variant is when we put the laws of the market or of intellectual market or intellectual property over the laws of love and the health of humanity," he added, recalling the heavy death toll the coronavirus had inflicted on the world.
His comments came in the middle of a debate over whether pharmaceutical companies should waive patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines.
Biden backed such a move on Wednesday, heeding calls from India, South Africa and more than 100 other countries.
However, many European countries, led by Germany and France, distanced themselves on Friday from the suggestion, arguing that key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic was making and sharing vaccines more quickly.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; editing by Jason Neely and Clelia Oziel)
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- Tesla Semi trucks in short supply for PepsiCo as its rivals use competing EV big rigs
- US State Dept 'fully expects' to finalize new AUKUS trade exemptions in next 120 days
- Chad air force chief orders US to halt activities at army base, letter shows
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
ReutersSign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!