VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks - WHYY 

The head of the World Health Organization called Friday (Mar 5) for patent rights to be waived until the end of the coronavirus pandemic so that vaccine supplies can be dramatically increased, saying these “unprecedented times” warrant the move.

At a press briefing, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries with their own vaccine capacity should “start waiving intellectual property rights ” as provided in special emergency provisions from the World Trade Organization.

The Associated Press found factories on three continents whose owners say they could start producing hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccines at short notice if only they had the blueprints and technical know-how. 

But that knowledge belongs to the large pharmaceutical companies that have produced the first three vaccines authorised by countries including Britain, the European Union and the US - Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. 

The factories are all still awaiting responses.

Pharmaceutical companies that took taxpayer money from the US or Europe to develop inoculations at unprecedented speed say they are negotiating contracts and exclusive licensing deals with producers on a case-by-case basis because they need to protect their intellectual property and ensure safety.