On the second day of an EU summit in Portugal, the European leaders instead urged Washington to lift export restrictions if it wants to have a global impact on the pandemic. “We don't think, in the short term, that it's the magic bullet,” European Council President Charles Michel said. Macron and other EU leaders have insisted that production capacity first must be ramped up by reconverting factories so they can quickly start producing vaccines through a transfer of technology. “Today, there is not a factory in the world that cannot produce doses for poor countries because of a patent issue,” Macron said. Developed nations should also increase vaccine donations to poorer countries, the EU leaders say in arguing that talking about patent waivers alone won’t cut it.

Source: ABC News May 08, 2021 10:09 UTC