Irish Examiner View: The world needs a better Covid vaccine deal

As the coronavirus continues to mutate, we must act to ensure a more equitable and speedy distribution of vaccines.

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It is difficult to conceive that nearly 30 months after the first case of Covid-19 arrived in Ireland, and with new variants on the move internationally, that we are all still debating a universal right of access to pandemic medicines through a relaxation of intellectual property (IP) rights.

Next week, World Trade Organization ministers will consider the latest, and watered-down, version of a proposal that was first tabled in 2020 by South Africa and India, and was backed by over 100 countries. 

That had the merit of simplicity. It suggested that patents for successful Covid vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics — such as those developed by Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca — should be suspended for the duration of the pandemic, thus allowing lower-income nations to develop their own versions, which would ensure more equitable and speedy distribution of vaccines. 

The catchphrase then was “no one is safe until everyone is safe”.

That is still true today, even while new and more straightforward remedies, such as nasal sprays, are promised.

Ireland has followed the policy position of the European Union, as it is obliged to do, but internationally progress has been, if not glacial, then certainly slow in reaching an agreement. The compromise version would only suspend vaccine patents for either three or five years, and treatment and testing formulas would still be subject to intellectual property protections.

It is likely that the mutating Covid virus will continue to provide some shocks and surprises for us. People who caught previous Covid-19 variants are getting re-infected with BA.4 and BA.5 versions, Ireland’s chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said this week.

The European Centre for Disease Control believes these variants will become dominant throughout Europe. 

US scientists are also tracking Omicron BA.2.12.1 — that’s a new one for most of us. However, what is clear is that matters are far from over as far as virus evolution is concerned.

As a WHO expert says: “The good news is that the vaccines continue to work. 

This is why we need to push for vaccination coverage around the world.”

How much clearer does this have to be? We are playing with fire and we have to act. 

It is time for the IP lawyers to get their pencils sharpened and sign off on this.