Vaccine IP Waiver Plan Redo ‘Has Legs’ but Devil’s in the Detail

A revised proposal to waive international intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines shows good faith from developing countries seeking to ramp up immunization efforts, but it may not be enough to persuade holdout nations to come on board, legal and policy observers say.

Egypt, Mongolia, and Pakistan are among the countries that submitted revisions to address concerns that the plan before the World Trade Organization was “too broad.” The revised text clarifies that the waiver only pertains to “Covid-19 prevention, treatment and containment” and would be in effect for “at least 3 years.”

The revisions show “the waiver has legs ...