Vaccine IP-Waiver Talks Are ‘Moving Slowly,’ WTO Chief Says

A World Trade Organization negotiation aimed at securing an intellectual-property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines is “moving slowly at this time, as members try to reconcile differing views and approaches,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says during a meeting with vaccine manufacturers.

• The WTO is working to approve a “ministerial declaration or a decision” to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, Okonjo-Iweala says in a speech
• WTO members remain divided over the question of whether a waiver to the WTO’s intellectual-property rules for vaccines is the best way to expand access to life-saving drugs in the developing world
• “We are currently working hard ...