US backs plan to waive Covid-19 vaccine patents

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday announced support for a global waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines, offering hope to poor nations that have struggled to access the life-saving doses.

India, where the death toll hit a new daily record amid fears the peak is still to come, has been leading the fight within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to allow more drugmakers to manufacture the vaccines -- a move pharma giants oppose.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that while intellectual property rights for businesses are important, Washington "supports the waiver of those protections for Covid-19 vaccines" in order to end the pandemic.

"This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures," she said in a statement. Biden had been under intense pressure to waive protections for vaccine manufacturers, especially amid criticism that rich nations were hoarding shots.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), called the US decision "historic" and said it marked "a monumental moment in the fight against Covid-19." Tai cautioned however that negotiations "will take time given the consensus-based nature" of the WTO.

With supplies for Americans secured, the Biden administration will continue efforts "to expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution," and will work to "increase the raw materials needed to produce those vaccines."Meanwhile, a return to enjoying drinks with friends on a cafe terrace, so eagerly anticipated after seemingly interminable closures because of the Covid-19 pandemic, still poses a relatively small risk of contagion, experts warn, suggesting a variety of safeguards.After months of on-again, off-again lockdown, many countries have reopened their bars or plan to do so soon.

Italians led the way in late April, followed by Greece on Monday, with France set to reopen its trademark sidewalk cafes on May 19. Even with strict Covid safety measures in place, the reopenings are hugely symbolic for millions of people, holding out the hope of a return to normalcy just as spring ushers in warmer weather.

"I feel like I am living again, I’ve come back to life!" said Greek pensioner Andreas Riminiotis as Athens reopened on a sunny on Monday. "The main message is still that (outdoor terraces) are far less risky than poorly ventilated interior spaces," epidemiologist Antoine Flahault told AFP.

Nearly 18 months after the start of the pandemic, experts agree that Covid-19 is largely transmitted through aerosols -- tiny droplets that hang in the air. They are produced "through infected people breathing, speaking, shouting or singing," said Flahault, head of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva.

"In a poorly ventilated space, an aerosol cloud can hang for several minutes or even hours before dissipating," he said. "But on the terrace, it dissipates rapidly into the atmosphere," he said likening it to cigarette smoke.

He estimated the risk at 18 to 20 times lower outdoors than in. Still, Babak Javid, an infectious diseases expert at the University of California in San Francisco, said: "I do think bars, even outdoor terraces, are potentially problematic, and that’s because those environments are associated with loud speech, people being close to each other, and, by definition, not wearing masks."

But he added: "Having said that, being outdoors will substantially reduce risks of transmission compared with indoors." Behind closed doors, aerosols can remain dangerous for those sharing close quarters with an infected person, as the germs can be inhaled before they have a chance to dissipate.

Julian Tang, an expert in respiratory viruses at the UK’s University of Leicester, agreed, saying: "It is the aerosols that are the main danger, especially those produced just by talking and breathing."

He added: "This is why distance between people is the most important factor, even outside, especially when you are eating and drinking and therefore cannot wear a mask." In the long run, the best protection lies in the vaccines, he said.

"Universal Covid-19 vaccination will be the best way to reduce infections in this situation -- as in all other situations." In a study recently posted online, French researchers also noted a "short-range aerosol risk" and suggest the use of large fans.

"The more these fans induce turbulent fluctuations, rather than an average flow, the better they are," said the authors, who are students of experimental physics at the University of Paris.

They concluded that the risk varies with the direction of the wind and declines with distance from an infected person. The study has been submitted for publication by the magazine Indoor Air, their supervisor Bruno Andreotti said on Twitter.