Omicron variant delays COVID-19 IP waiver debate

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has postponed its ministerial conference indefinitely, potentially ending the opportunity for countries to agree an IP waiver for COVID-19 vaccines this year.

Late Friday, November 26, the WTO’s General Council agreed to indefinitely postpone the imminent conference after an outbreak of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. The new variant has led several governments to impose travel restrictions that would have prevented many ministers from reaching Geneva, said the WTO.

Negotiations and a potential deal on the waiver of IP rights related to vaccines were due to take place amid the ministerial conference.

The WTO’s director-general Okonjo-Iweala said: “This does not mean that negotiations should stop. On the contrary, delegations in Geneva should be fully empowered to close as many gaps as possible. This new variant reminds us once again of the urgency of the work we are charged with.”

The landmark proposal to suspend provisions of TRIPS for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments was first discussed in October 2020, as reported by LSIPR, with South Africa and India leading the charge.

Several countries have, in recent months, backed the waiver. In May this year, US President Joe Biden reversed the country’s stance and voiced his support for a waiver.

Others—including the EU, UK and Canada—have pushed back on the waiver. However, in recent days, Euronews has reported that the EU has softened its stance and is ready to agree a waiver “that makes sense [and] that will increase production”.

The indefinite postponement indicates that a consensus will not be reached on an IP waiver in 2021.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of more 50 organisations—including Oxfam, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch—which is calling for vaccines to be freely available, claimed that “the vaccine apartheid that rich countries and the WTO have refused to address is ultimately responsible for the decision to postpone these talks”.

It added: “There can be no more delays, putting pharmaceutical profits before people’s lives is clearly a risk to us all. We do not need a ministerial summit to agree to this, we just need governments to put the good of humanity above the profits of a handful of companies.”

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