SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on Capitol Hill on January 27, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images)
'We Need a People's Vaccine, Not a Profit Vaccine': Sanders Urges Biden to Support Push to Suspend Pharma Patents
"Ending this pandemic requires collaboration, solidarity, and empathy. It requires a very different mindset—a mindset that puts people over profits at every turn."
Mar 10, 2021
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to support an India and South Africa-led effort at the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend coronavirus vaccine-related intellectual property rights in order to facilitate speedy global production and distribution of the life-saving shots--a proposal backed by nearly 70% of U.S. adults and more than 100 nations worldwide.
"It is unconscionable that amid a global health crisis, huge multibillion dollar pharmaceutical companies continue to prioritize profits by protecting their monopolies and driving up prices rather than prioritizing the lives of people everywhere, including in the Global South," Sanders said in a video released Wednesday as part of a global virtual "Rally for a People's Vaccine."
"Our government has invested enormous sums of taxpayer dollars into the production of these technologies. All people should benefit, not just a few already obscenely wealthy CEOs and shareholders in the wealthiest country on Earth."
--Sen. Bernie Sanders
In order to ramp up coronavirus vaccine production to meet global need and distribute doses "as quickly as humanly possible," Sanders said "the United States should play a major role in promoting global cooperation and innovation." At present, the U.S.--along with other wealthy nations where major pharmaceutical companies are based--is blocking India and South Africa's push for a patent waiver, which industry lobbying groups are mobilizing to crush.
"Our government has invested enormous sums of taxpayer dollars into the production of these technologies. All people should benefit, not just a few already obscenely wealthy CEOs and shareholders in the wealthiest country on Earth," said the Vermont senator. "We need a People's Vaccine, not a Profit Vaccine."
Less than a week after the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a leading industry lobbying organization, called on Biden to uphold U.S. opposition to the patent-waiver proposal, Sanders said Wednesday that he is sending a letter to the president demanding his support for the plan "so that we can rapidly expand supplies of vaccines" without the constraints imposed by pharma monopolies.
"Ending this pandemic requires collaboration, solidarity, and empathy. It requires a very different mindset--a mindset that puts people over profits at every turn," Sanders said. "The pharmaceutical companies must not block this effort, and I join you in your request to temporarily waive WTO intellectual property protections on Covid-19 medical technologies during the pandemic."
Watch:
Sanders' remarks came ahead of a global "Free the Vaccine" day of action Thursday wherein medical professionals, scientists, and progressive activists are planning to rally at Moderna headquarters in Massachusetts, PhRMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Pfizer headquarters in New York City, and other locations to pressure Biden to support the proposed intellectual property waiver. A WTO council is meeting to discuss the proposal this week.
Without ambitious action to free vaccine recipes from the pharmaceutical industry's stranglehold, activists and experts have warned, most poor nations will not achieve sufficient inoculation against the deadly virus until as late as 2024 as rich countries continue to hoard much of the existing supply.
According to a new analysis by the International Rescue Committee, excess vaccine doses bought up by the U.S., United Kingdom, and European Union could inoculate every adult in Yemen, Ethiopia, and other nations facing horrific humanitarian crises.
"Around the world, two and a half million lives have already been lost due to this brutal disease and many countries are battling without adequate medical care and no vaccines," Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International, said in a statement Wednesday. "By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line."
"At this crucial time," said Bucher, "developing countries need support--not opposition."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to support an India and South Africa-led effort at the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend coronavirus vaccine-related intellectual property rights in order to facilitate speedy global production and distribution of the life-saving shots--a proposal backed by nearly 70% of U.S. adults and more than 100 nations worldwide.
"It is unconscionable that amid a global health crisis, huge multibillion dollar pharmaceutical companies continue to prioritize profits by protecting their monopolies and driving up prices rather than prioritizing the lives of people everywhere, including in the Global South," Sanders said in a video released Wednesday as part of a global virtual "Rally for a People's Vaccine."
"Our government has invested enormous sums of taxpayer dollars into the production of these technologies. All people should benefit, not just a few already obscenely wealthy CEOs and shareholders in the wealthiest country on Earth."
--Sen. Bernie Sanders
In order to ramp up coronavirus vaccine production to meet global need and distribute doses "as quickly as humanly possible," Sanders said "the United States should play a major role in promoting global cooperation and innovation." At present, the U.S.--along with other wealthy nations where major pharmaceutical companies are based--is blocking India and South Africa's push for a patent waiver, which industry lobbying groups are mobilizing to crush.
"Our government has invested enormous sums of taxpayer dollars into the production of these technologies. All people should benefit, not just a few already obscenely wealthy CEOs and shareholders in the wealthiest country on Earth," said the Vermont senator. "We need a People's Vaccine, not a Profit Vaccine."
Less than a week after the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a leading industry lobbying organization, called on Biden to uphold U.S. opposition to the patent-waiver proposal, Sanders said Wednesday that he is sending a letter to the president demanding his support for the plan "so that we can rapidly expand supplies of vaccines" without the constraints imposed by pharma monopolies.
"Ending this pandemic requires collaboration, solidarity, and empathy. It requires a very different mindset--a mindset that puts people over profits at every turn," Sanders said. "The pharmaceutical companies must not block this effort, and I join you in your request to temporarily waive WTO intellectual property protections on Covid-19 medical technologies during the pandemic."
Watch:
Sanders' remarks came ahead of a global "Free the Vaccine" day of action Thursday wherein medical professionals, scientists, and progressive activists are planning to rally at Moderna headquarters in Massachusetts, PhRMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Pfizer headquarters in New York City, and other locations to pressure Biden to support the proposed intellectual property waiver. A WTO council is meeting to discuss the proposal this week.
Without ambitious action to free vaccine recipes from the pharmaceutical industry's stranglehold, activists and experts have warned, most poor nations will not achieve sufficient inoculation against the deadly virus until as late as 2024 as rich countries continue to hoard much of the existing supply.
According to a new analysis by the International Rescue Committee, excess vaccine doses bought up by the U.S., United Kingdom, and European Union could inoculate every adult in Yemen, Ethiopia, and other nations facing horrific humanitarian crises.
"Around the world, two and a half million lives have already been lost due to this brutal disease and many countries are battling without adequate medical care and no vaccines," Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International, said in a statement Wednesday. "By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line."
"At this crucial time," said Bucher, "developing countries need support--not opposition."
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to support an India and South Africa-led effort at the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend coronavirus vaccine-related intellectual property rights in order to facilitate speedy global production and distribution of the life-saving shots--a proposal backed by nearly 70% of U.S. adults and more than 100 nations worldwide.
"It is unconscionable that amid a global health crisis, huge multibillion dollar pharmaceutical companies continue to prioritize profits by protecting their monopolies and driving up prices rather than prioritizing the lives of people everywhere, including in the Global South," Sanders said in a video released Wednesday as part of a global virtual "Rally for a People's Vaccine."
"Our government has invested enormous sums of taxpayer dollars into the production of these technologies. All people should benefit, not just a few already obscenely wealthy CEOs and shareholders in the wealthiest country on Earth."
--Sen. Bernie Sanders
In order to ramp up coronavirus vaccine production to meet global need and distribute doses "as quickly as humanly possible," Sanders said "the United States should play a major role in promoting global cooperation and innovation." At present, the U.S.--along with other wealthy nations where major pharmaceutical companies are based--is blocking India and South Africa's push for a patent waiver, which industry lobbying groups are mobilizing to crush.
"Our government has invested enormous sums of taxpayer dollars into the production of these technologies. All people should benefit, not just a few already obscenely wealthy CEOs and shareholders in the wealthiest country on Earth," said the Vermont senator. "We need a People's Vaccine, not a Profit Vaccine."
Less than a week after the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a leading industry lobbying organization, called on Biden to uphold U.S. opposition to the patent-waiver proposal, Sanders said Wednesday that he is sending a letter to the president demanding his support for the plan "so that we can rapidly expand supplies of vaccines" without the constraints imposed by pharma monopolies.
"Ending this pandemic requires collaboration, solidarity, and empathy. It requires a very different mindset--a mindset that puts people over profits at every turn," Sanders said. "The pharmaceutical companies must not block this effort, and I join you in your request to temporarily waive WTO intellectual property protections on Covid-19 medical technologies during the pandemic."
Watch:
Sanders' remarks came ahead of a global "Free the Vaccine" day of action Thursday wherein medical professionals, scientists, and progressive activists are planning to rally at Moderna headquarters in Massachusetts, PhRMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., Pfizer headquarters in New York City, and other locations to pressure Biden to support the proposed intellectual property waiver. A WTO council is meeting to discuss the proposal this week.
Without ambitious action to free vaccine recipes from the pharmaceutical industry's stranglehold, activists and experts have warned, most poor nations will not achieve sufficient inoculation against the deadly virus until as late as 2024 as rich countries continue to hoard much of the existing supply.
According to a new analysis by the International Rescue Committee, excess vaccine doses bought up by the U.S., United Kingdom, and European Union could inoculate every adult in Yemen, Ethiopia, and other nations facing horrific humanitarian crises.
"Around the world, two and a half million lives have already been lost due to this brutal disease and many countries are battling without adequate medical care and no vaccines," Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International, said in a statement Wednesday. "By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line."
"At this crucial time," said Bucher, "developing countries need support--not opposition."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.