WEBVTT 00:00.220 --> 00:04.210 JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's return to the pandemic here and abroad. 00:04.210 --> 00:09.210 President Biden has given the initial go-ahead for the U.S. to waive patent rights on COVID 00:09.680 --> 00:14.670 vaccines, in an effort to boost production internationally for countries in need. 00:14.670 --> 00:19.670 But there are real questions over how effective these moves would be, what else is needed, 00:20.039 --> 00:23.810 and when this would translate into more shots in arms. 00:23.810 --> 00:26.689 William Brangham focuses on that part of the story tonight. 00:26.689 --> 00:31.689 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Judy, the response by some European countries today on this patent question 00:32.009 --> 00:34.910 hinted at some of those very complications. 00:34.910 --> 00:39.270 The president of the European Commission, for example, would not commit a bloc of European 00:39.270 --> 00:44.270 countries to waiving these patent protections. But that's not the only concern here. 00:44.760 --> 00:49.760 Let's explore more of this with Rachel Silverman. She's a policy fellow at the Center For Global 00:49.940 --> 00:50.960 Development. 00:50.960 --> 00:53.320 Rachel Silverman, great to have you on the "NewsHour." 00:53.320 --> 00:56.610 What was your reaction when the Biden administration made this announcement yesterday? 00:56.610 --> 00:59.670 RACHEL SILVERMAN, Center For Global Development: Well, great to be here this evening. 00:59.670 --> 01:04.670 So, my reaction is that I'm very encouraged that the Biden administration, with this move, 01:05.000 --> 01:10.000 is signaling its willingness and eagerness to take bold action, that it understands the 01:10.940 --> 01:15.670 scope of the challenge before us, that it is treating this as the number one global 01:15.670 --> 01:20.260 issue, diplomatic issue, security issue that needs to be solved, and is signaling that 01:20.260 --> 01:25.260 it's willing to make moves that might upset the apple cart, that break out of old paradigms 01:26.250 --> 01:28.210 and that show real ambition. 01:28.210 --> 01:33.210 I do think this move itself is probably largely symbolic in this respect. It will be quite 01:34.190 --> 01:39.190 a long time before WTO members agree on a patent waiver, if they agree at all. I think, 01:40.930 --> 01:45.440 probably the practical effect of that patent waiver will be fairly marginal. 01:45.440 --> 01:50.440 But I am optimistic that this signals a more proactive role for the Biden administration 01:51.729 --> 01:56.729 in entering the fray and really solving this problem on behalf of the entire world. 01:56.990 --> 02:01.640 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, if waiving these -- this intellectual property isn't the most effective 02:01.640 --> 02:05.290 route, what would you argue is the most urgent thing we ought to be doing? 02:05.290 --> 02:10.149 RACHEL SILVERMAN: So, I think we need to be thinking much more ambitiously about the scale 02:10.149 --> 02:14.720 of resources we're willing to put in to scale up vaccines. 02:14.720 --> 02:19.720 I think we're still thinking very small. The U.S.' contribution to COVAX is $4 billion. 02:21.080 --> 02:23.420 That is welcome, but it is not enough to vaccinate... 02:23.420 --> 02:25.920 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: COVAX being the global vaccine supply. 02:25.920 --> 02:30.099 RACHEL SILVERMAN: Yes. Yes, exactly. 02:30.099 --> 02:35.099 It's not enough to vaccinate the world. And the United States has produced these vaccines. 02:35.459 --> 02:39.810 We are very fortunate that most people in the United States now have the ability to 02:39.810 --> 02:44.550 access these vaccines. That's not true in most low-and middle-income countries. 02:44.550 --> 02:49.550 And what could help is a lot more money. There's not enough money in the system to purchase 02:49.580 --> 02:54.580 vaccines on behalf of everyone in the world, to provide the commercial certainty to industry 02:55.720 --> 02:59.989 that it should be continuing to scale up its production. 02:59.989 --> 03:04.989 There needs to be much more money in the system, financing a much more ambitious version of 03:05.580 --> 03:08.260 what it will take to vaccinate the world in short order. 03:08.260 --> 03:12.390 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, supporters of this move argue that there has already been a lot 03:12.390 --> 03:17.390 of money, including taxpayer money, put into the development of these vaccines, and that 03:17.760 --> 03:22.760 we are in a crisis, and these nations need to speed this process, and so this is the 03:24.130 --> 03:26.740 obligation of the companies, that they need to give these up. 03:26.740 --> 03:30.989 RACHEL SILVERMAN: Well, I certainly agree that we are in a crisis and we need to speed 03:30.989 --> 03:35.920 this entire process up. There is no time to delay whatsoever. 03:35.920 --> 03:40.910 And that's exactly my concern, is that what's the most practical way forward? If we look 03:40.910 --> 03:45.910 at the TRIPS waiver, I think it will probably go ahead. It will be fine. But it will take 03:46.480 --> 03:51.420 quite a bit of time to negotiate. There are still complicated issues around technology 03:51.420 --> 03:56.420 transfer, giving companies in low- and middle-income companies the recipes, the proprietary knowledge, 03:58.050 --> 04:02.440 the cell lines needed to do this, that will not come automatically, even with a patent 04:02.440 --> 04:03.440 waiver. 04:03.440 --> 04:08.440 But what we can do in the short and the medium term is to put more money into the system 04:08.830 --> 04:13.830 to pull through more manufacturing capacity, to create the incentives that say, build it, 04:16.030 --> 04:19.359 and we will pay for it, and we will vaccinate the world. 04:19.359 --> 04:24.260 I think it's a mistake to put this onus of all of this on the pharmaceutical companies. 04:24.260 --> 04:29.260 Yes, they receive taxpayer money. Yes, taxpayers and the public, we need these vaccines, and 04:30.169 --> 04:33.810 we need them to be equitably shared, and we have a stake in doing so. 04:33.810 --> 04:38.810 But they are companies. They are private companies. We are the global community. We are the United 04:40.180 --> 04:44.390 States government. And we need to take the leadership role in making this happen, not 04:44.390 --> 04:47.850 just expecting pharma to do it on our behalf, without our intervention. 04:47.850 --> 04:52.000 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want to ask you about another argument that the industry makes, 04:52.000 --> 04:56.449 which is, if they go about developing these vaccines, and then we swoop in and break their 04:56.449 --> 05:01.449 intellectual property, their patents for those vaccines, that this sets a terrible precedent 05:01.760 --> 05:03.380 going forward. 05:03.380 --> 05:04.970 Do you share that concern? 05:04.970 --> 05:09.970 RACHEL SILVERMAN: I think it's somewhat overstated. But the reason I think it's overstated is 05:10.080 --> 05:15.080 because, again, I think the effect of this patent waiver will be quite marginal. 05:17.440 --> 05:21.760 That said, the part I do agree with them on is that we definitely do want to send a signal 05:21.760 --> 05:26.760 to the market that you will be rewarded if you solve the most important issues facing 05:27.110 --> 05:32.110 humanity. What we don't want is a situation where all of the private pharmaceutical companies 05:32.940 --> 05:37.940 decide, you know what, it's not worth our while to tackle the big problems. We'd rather 05:37.949 --> 05:42.940 find the next Botox, just work on cosmetic treatments or things we can sell to rich people 05:42.940 --> 05:47.639 for a lot of money, and they will never bother us about giving it free to poor people. 05:47.639 --> 05:52.639 That is obviously not an optimal solution. We have a lot of problems to solve. We have 05:52.810 --> 05:57.810 malaria. We have T.B.. We have HIV. There is no vaccine. There's treatment, but no vaccine. 05:59.370 --> 06:04.199 We do pharma focused on solving the world's most important problems. I think the effect 06:04.199 --> 06:09.199 of the waiver will be fairly marginal in this respect. But I would like it see a focus on 06:10.460 --> 06:15.460 incentives to produce what matters, that you will be rewarded with if you do, and not penalized 06:16.580 --> 06:18.730 because what you produced is so important. 06:18.730 --> 06:23.170 But that doesn't mean hoarding on -- hoarding the supply. That doesn't mean it's OK to not 06:23.170 --> 06:27.139 vaccinate the entire world. It's not. And we can do both at once. 06:27.139 --> 06:30.481 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Rachel Silverman at the Center For Global Development, thank 06:30.481 --> 06:31.919 you very much for being here. 06:31.919 --> 06:33.150 RACHEL SILVERMAN: Thank you.