The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to people across the globe, regardless of borders or governments. For the last two years, the daily lives of nearly every person on the planet have been affected by the risks presented by the pandemic, as well as the restrictions put in place to help minimize those risks.

During the pandemic, significant divides between nation-states (and even between ordinary people) over how to fight the COVID-19 virus through the course of the pandemic have been almost as disheartening as the pandemic itself. In face of all these challenges, however, remarkable individuals and organizations have still managed to accomplish the miraculous task of creating a vaccine for the virus in just a little over a year since the pandemic began — a feat that usually takes 10-12 years.

Efforts to produce a vaccine for the coronavirus have drawn the talents of the brightest minds in the medical field, and have required the use of pilot technology never before commercially employed, such as mRNA techniques. Yet, despite the development of groundbreaking vaccines (such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines), countries outside of the most developed nations in the world have been largely unable to secure and acquire a sufficient supply of them. 

Many countries have been unable to obtain any WHO-approved vaccines at all and are being forced to resort to dangerous alternatives, including defective vaccines that have tragically resulted in hundreds of deaths. These realities have prompted international discussions on implementing a medical patent waiver on COVID-19 vaccines, to allow organizations and governments to produce their own versions of currently developed vaccines. With that in mind, here are five reasons why you should unquestionably support a COVID-19 vaccine patent waiver.

The Pandemic Shouldn’t Be an Opportunity for Profit

A patent is a form of intellectual property protection that certifies to the patent-holder that their rights to exclusively use and license whatever innovation they’ve invented are protected by the government. The cost of a patent depends on the type of patent and size of the business entity. Ordinarily, patent infringement is a form of intellectual property theft, punishable through fines or even prison time depending on severity and jurisdiction. Patents award innovators for their efforts by attempting to guarantee the inventor profits from their invention for a set amount of time, in order to incentivize greater innovation efforts. 

While incentivizing inventors to create things and protecting their rights to profit from their own inventions is important, the COVID-19 pandemic is not an ordinary situation by any means. During the pandemic, vaccines are an essential commodity and allowing a small number of companies and countries to monopolize the production of vaccines is deeply unethical. Millions are currently dying due to a lack of vaccines in third-world countries, and millions more will die if nothing is done. Lives cannot be held in lower regard than corporate profits.

An IP Waiver Would Improve Vaccine Production Efficiency

One of the greatest problems in distributing vaccines in 2021 has not been an inability for countries to purchase vaccines; rather, the current production limit for the supply of vaccines is unable to keep up with global demand. Countries with the money to pay for vaccines are unable to purchase them because there simply aren’t enough vaccines being produced. By waiving patents of developed vaccine formulas, the global production rate of vaccines would increase, allowing more demand to be met.

More Vaccines Benefit Everyone in the Long Run

The most important factor in returning the world to some semblance of normalcy is the efficient vaccination of a majority of the global population in every country. It isn’t enough for countries to simply focus on vaccinating their own population without regard for others. The modern world is an interconnected one with millions of people traveling between countries every day. Unless everyone has sufficient access to vaccines, world trade and travel will never be able to be properly restored.

A COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Waiver Is Supported by a Majority of Countries

Of the United Nations’ 193 member states, over 120 have expressed support for a patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines. This includes world superpowers, such as the United States, Russia, and China, as well as leaders in the European Union. The initiative has received significant international support because world leaders recognize that there is no end to the pandemic unless it ends everywhere. Waiving international property patents on COVID-19 vaccines is a giant step in the right direction.

Poorer Countries Can Access Vaccines Without Taking From Others

Opponents of a COVID-19 vaccine patent waiver argue that waiving patents will decrease the overall quality of produced vaccines, potentially placing the populations of third-world countries in jeopardy. An alternate measure of simply relying on rich, first-world countries to donate and supply less developed countries with vaccines is often proposed. 

Unfortunately, despite collaborative efforts to donate vaccines, the fact remains that most first-world countries still don’t have enough vaccines for their own citizens, with little to spare for others. By allowing countries to produce their own vaccines, populations in less developed regions are able to protect themselves without relying on the whims of other countries. In turn, developed nations will be able to focus on vaccinating their own citizens.

Obviously, waiving vaccine patents are not the only step that needs to be taken in order to end the pandemic worldwide. Many countries are still experiencing critical shortages in medical staff and hospital space. Fortunately, thanks to the aid from both a public and private nursing agency, NYC providers — and those in other heavily impacted regions — can help bridge that gap in care. Nevertheless, waiving vaccine patents would be a significant step in helping to end the pandemic around the world for good. And that is, without a doubt, a greater good that will benefit us all.