Biden calls for intellectual property waivers on COVID vaccines

[discocrisco01]

Source: Al Jazeera

US President Joe Biden has called on countries attending a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting next week to waive intellectual property protections on coronavirus vaccines, as international concern is rising over a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa.

In a statement on Friday, Biden said the discovery of the new variant demonstrates that the pandemic will not end until the entire world has equal access to vaccines.

Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/26/biden-calls-for-intellectual-property-waivers-covid-vaccines

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Forgive if I'm wrong, but I could have sworn that already happened (perhaps the

US only)...

[Eugene]

7. The new COVID *pill* was going to be licensed.

Moderna was saying, as recently as last month, that Big Pharma fill the world's need for vaccines, while keeping that IP intact. Just give them another year or three.

[progree]

2. Graph: Omicron variant 90% of all sequenced in S. Africa in 20 days vs. 90 days for delta

Last edited Fri Nov 26, 2021, 11:38 PM - Edit history (1)

I read the numbers off the below graph, so the title numbers are approximate



https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/new-concerning-variant-b11529

[Doremus]

3. Any news of the mortality rate of this one? nt

[progree]

4. Not that I've seen - the first case was discovered Nov 11, only 15 days ago, deaths usually

lag by about a month for most Covid so far...

As for hospitalization, I did a very quick Google and didn't really see anything...

From Nov 25 morning:
https://fortune.com/2021/11/25/south-africa-covid-19-mutation-variant-serious-concern-fourth-wave/

The outbreak of the new variant is at an early stage and studies are ongoing, but officials “do expect, unfortunately, to start seeing pressure in the healthcare system in the next few days and weeks,” De Oliveira said.

[Doremus]

6. Thanks.

I also did a brief search and found nothing about mortality rate yet. Hopefully the spike on that doesn't resemble the graph. .

[paleotn]

8. Makes sense. It's estimated R0 is much higher than ancestral strains.

Evolution before our very eyes. Better replicators rule, less adept replicators drool. Now where are those who think natural selection through random mutation isn't a thing?

Or is the "intelligent designer", i.e. God, cranking out new and better Covid variations to kill us? Damn him.

[C Moon]

5. Smart move from a President who cares for his country and the world...

unlike the former guy who only cared about himself.

[paleotn]

9. By all means. Thanks, Joe Biden!