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Pope Francis backs Biden call to waive Covid vaccine patents
Pope Francis on Saturday came out in favor of a waiver on intellectual property rights for coronavirus vaccines, echoing comments made by the U.S. administration earlier this week.
World Trade Organization (WTO) leaders have recently urged member nations to come to an agreement on the potential vaccine patent waivers, hoping to remove obstacles to the ramping up of vaccine production in developing countries.
President Joe Biden's team endorsed the idea on Wednesday with Trade Representative Katherine Tai saying in a statement that it "supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines."
At: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/08/pope-francis-backs-biden-call-to-waive-covid-vaccine-patents.html
Then-Vice President Joe Biden and Pope Francis during the pope's 2015 visit to the U.S.
The Biden administration's Wednesday announcement of support for a global waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines - which might let manufacturers in poorer countries make their own - enjoys widespread support around the world.
The world's vaccination rate thus far, 13 per 100 people (excluding the U.S.), is about one sixth the U.S. total of 76 per 100 people.
