WASHINGTON - The United States will support efforts to waive intellectual property protections on COVID-19 vaccines in an effort to held end the pandemic, Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai announced Wednesday.Tai said in a statement that "the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures." India and South Africa have appealed to the World Trade Organization to temporarily relax intellectual property rules so coronavirus vaccines can be manufactured by nations that are struggling to inoculate their populations.
The Biden administration has also faced increasing pressure from lawmakers on the left urging the president to support a temporary waiver.The WTO is currently in talks over easing global trade rules.