Pharmaceutical companies lobbied to 'water down' rules on Covid vaccine access

India and Brazil led calls for a waiver on intellectual properties to potentially give poorer countries better vaccine access but the EU, including Ireland, took a firm stance against the Trips Waiver. 

Lobbying from pharmaceutical companies to European officials led to the “watering down” of a radical proposal on vaccine access, an investigation by Politico and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found.

India and Brazil led calls for a waiver on intellectual properties to potentially give poorer countries better vaccine access. Although supported by America, the European Union, including Ireland, took a firm stance against the Trips Waiver.