A close-up look at the vaccine patent waiver proposal

In October, South Africa and India jointly proposed to the World Trade Organization that all patents for COVID-19 products be lifted for the duration of the pandemic. The idea was to fast-track and free up manufacturers around the globe to mobilize and scale up urgently needed vaccines. Many in the vaccine industry warn that a waiver does not actually address the underlying problems of vaccine shortages, and may even undermine it. Yesterday, in a major policy shift, the US announced it would support the waiver efforts and engage in negotiations over the specifics. Host Marco Werman speaks with Mustakeem De Gama about the developments. De Gama is a representative from South Africa to the WTO, and the one who first introduced the waiver to the council.