This Wednesday, May 5th, supporters of the WTO TRIPS waiver came together on the national mall in Washington, D.C., United States, to call for immediate global access to the covid-19 vaccine. Trade unionists, healthcare rights organizations, consumer advocates, environmentalists, social justice and civil society organizations demonstrated at a rally calling for a waiver on intellectual property protections currently preventing universal access to the vaccine. The rally also displayed photos of just some of the thousands and thousands of healthcare workers who have been lost to the deadly virus.

In the middle of the rally, it was announced that the Joe Biden administration had just indicated its support for the TRIPS waiver. The announcement brought cheers from the rally crowd along with calls for the other hold-out countries to join in the effort to ‘Free the Vaccine!”. The Biden administration announcement sends a powerful signal to the other wealthy countries blocking the waiver that it is time to stand for People Over Profit.

Public Services International (PSI) welcomes the announcement by the Biden administration. Since October 2020, PSI has been demanding for rich countries to agree to the TRIPS waiver and share the vaccine, and other health products, such a diagnostics, PPE, and upcoming medicines.

Continued activism and pressure will be required to push the waiver forward as pharmaceutical Industry spokesmen have already denounced the Biden administration position. We have seen the horrific toll the virus has taken on the people of India and other nations around the world where the vaccine is so desperately needed. Pharmaceutical industry advocates will make every effort to slow down WTO negotiations over the waiver and prevent real progress. This is the time to step up demands for universal vaccine access now!