The global inequityMass immunisation is the only way to end the pandemic but rising global inequality in vaccine access stands as a colossal hurdle. According to WHO, nearly 80% of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in just 10 rich countries, while more than 2.5 billion people await their first shots. Also Read | A new chapter for the TRIPS waiver proposalWTO’s director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said the body would take up the issue of IP waiver for Covid vaccine in December. In their paper, “A network analysis of Covid-19 mRNA vaccine patents”, Gaviria and Kilic explain that this vaccine platform uses multiple technologies, including the main mRNA technology, lipid nanoparticle technology and a delivery-system. It depends on voluntary sharing of recipes and data, for which no Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer has shown interest yet.

Source: Hindustan Times May 18, 2021 07:29 UTC