Macron backs waiving IP rights for COVID-19 vaccines

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed support on Thursday for waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, hours after U.S. President Joe Biden threw his support behind the idea. "I am very much in favour of opening up intellectual property. We must obviously make this vaccine a global public good," Macron told reporters.

"The priority, today, is certainly to give doses. In the short term, this is what will allow us to vaccinate people. And the second thing is to produce, in partnership with the poorest countries." Critics of the proposed waiver say producing COVID-19 vaccines is complex and setting up production at new facilities would divert resources from efforts to boost production at existing sites.

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