Biden Backs Waiving International Patent Protections For COVID-19 Vaccines
Evan Vucci/AP
We ran the numbers: There are 2654 news articles covering this topic. 31% (828) are left leaning, 43% (1128) are center, and 26% (698) are right leaning.
On Wednesday, President Biden threw his support behind a World Trade Organization proposal to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. While left-leaning articles highlight that the WHO argues that private profits should not take precedence over sharing critical knowledge that could save millions of lives, right-leaning articles highlight that congressional Democrats pressed Biden to support granting such a waiver.
A left-leaning article by CNN highlights that the WHO argues that private profits should not take precedence over sharing critical knowledge that could save millions of lives. The article notes that Biden chose humanity in this difficult decision.
NPR published a centrist article reporting that in a statement, U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai said although the Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, “in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.” The WTO is also considering a proposal to address the inequity of vaccinations globally.
A right-leaning article by The Washington Times highlights that congressional Democrats pressed Biden to support granting such a waiver. However, Major companies have expressed concerns that such waivers could harm the safety of the vaccines.