ACLU Comment on Biden Administration Supporting Waiver of Intellectual Property Protections for COVID-19 Vaccines

WASHINGTON — United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced this afternoon that the United States supports the waiver of intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines.

Below is comment from Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program, in response:

“Vaccine distribution is deeply inequitable at home, but even more so abroad. One in four people in high income countries have received a vaccine dose; but just one in 500 people in lower income countries have received a dose. This extremely slow and inequitable distribution has dire consequences for billions of people around the world. Ensuring everyone has access to COVID-19 vaccines is a racial justice issue and a public health necessity. We applaud the Biden administration’s decision to support a waiver of intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines and anticipate the United States’ engagement with the World Trade Organization on the issue.”

The ACLU and international partners sent a letter to President Biden earlier today asking his administration to support a waiver of intellectual property protections. That letter is here: https://www.aclu.org/letter/inclo-letter-president-biden-equitable-global-vaccine-production-and-distribution