The Biden administration says it will support lifting patent protections

[BumRushDaShow]

20. I really don't think it's going to take that long

and I wouldn't be surprised if things are already getting set up behind the scenes, particularly given past agreements of the sort.

Actually - according to the OP article, it's not so much the U.S. and red tape, but whatever happens with the WHO and the countries at the table who are doing the negotiations (from the OP) -

Ms. Tai added that the United States would participate in negotiations at the World Trade Organization over the matter, adding, “Those negotiations will take time given the consensus-based nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues involved.” Earlier Wednesday, members of the World Trade Organization held another round of discussions about waiving intellectual property protections. Further discussions are expected in the coming weeks, as India and South Africa, which proposed the waiver, are preparing a revised plan for nations to consider.

The "change" was that the U.S. decided to go ahead and join whatever WHO was working on with other interested nation parties and not stand in the way.

(of course WHO has its own issues but that's another subject for another day )