Extraordinary times call for practical solidarity of nations: China Daily editorial

Announcing the United States' support for the proposal of some World Trade Organization members to temporarily lift the patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines, US Trade Representative Katherine Tsai said that "extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures".

This is an abrupt break from the previous US resistance to such a move, and the high-profile, sensational about-face has won immediate applause both at home and abroad. After all, in this difficult time, when the world anticipates more unabated surges of the novel coronavirus in less-developed countries, such as that being experienced by India, anything conducive to boosting the availability of vaccines should be welcomed.

Yet, although it may be unfair to take the Joe Biden administration's apparently altruistic offer as being simply political lip service meant to win back the moral high ground, the sad truth is that even if it is not, such a prospect will likely prove too idealistic to be realistic.

The Big Pharma companies for instance have raised a number of issues that deserve deliberation: the potential disruption of existing supply chains should all countries enter the materials market and compete for scarce resources, capacity-building that will take time, inadequate oversight and lack of quality guarantees.

And multiple US allies have sided with Big Pharma when it comes to intellectual property protection. Angela Merkel's German government, for one, has said that "the protection of intellectual property is a source of innovation and must remain so in the future". The concern being that the proposed waiver will discourage future investment in badly needed research and development which might harm humanity in the future.

Inside Washington's policy circles, of course, there is one additional concern — the intellectual property waiver may deprive the US and the West of a crucial technological edge in present and future competition with countries such as China and Russia.

Just as the US trade representative acknowledged, it will therefore take time to sort it all out, as the White House will have to negotiate hard to get both Big Pharma and the China-haters on board.

The pandemic, though, will wait on no one. Nor can the rest of the world afford to wait while the US drags its feet. As politicians and public policymakers continue their quarrel over the proposed waiver, the world should focus on tapping the potential of instantly available vaccine supply mechanisms and substantially increase vaccine supplies to countries in need.

Given the broad resistance against the proposal, and the many feasibility issues that would ensue even if a consensus should emerge, the world still needs to prioritize boosting production, reducing monopolies and hoarding, and increasing supplies to the countries that have effectively been left out in the race for vaccines.

If the White House is worried about the global pandemic situation and wants to play a bigger, more meaningful role in the global campaign, it can start by fairly sharing what is available.