Poor Countries Get The Vaccine Shaft.
Nations that are not well off are pressing Biden Admin. to ease patent protections on the life saving vaccines now in wide distribution. (Politico)
“Drug companies, including the ones making the vaccines now authorized in the U.S., widely oppose the move, which they say would undermine the global response to the pandemic and not have the intended effect of speeding up production. The Trump administration opposed it at the WTO. But House Democrats say they have already collected close to a hundred signatures on a letter urging Biden to change the U.S. position. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also have weighed in. Those critics accuse the drug companies of prioritizing profits over saving lives.
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Uneven vaccine distribution has plagued the United States with the wealthy jumping the line and poor, often minority communities, not receiving equal number of doses. If the World’s wealthy continue to hoard vaccines then World immunity will take that much longer to achieve. The powerful will always try to game the system, a societies’ ability to ensure equality, however, helps lift the standard of living for everyone. It is certainly worth the effort.
