WTO “Advanced countries should give up intellectual property rights to resolve vaccine shortage”

Ngoji Okonzo Iweala, who took office as the secretary-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the 15th of last month. © Reuters = News1 © News1 Reporter Won Tae-sung

The Secretary-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has called for urgent action to promote worldwide vaccine production for the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).

According to Reuters, WTO secretary-general Ngoji Okonzo-Yweala argued that WTO members should give up their intellectual property rights in vaccines in order to produce more vaccines at a meeting held on the 9th (local time).

Okonzo, who served as the chairman of the global vaccine alliance GAVI board until recently, and took office as the secretary general of the WTO on the 15th of last month, said, “There is a shortage of vaccines in about 130 countries.” “We need to lift restrictions or phase out them,” he urged.

According to Okonzo, these emergency measures would double the speed of vaccine manufacturing than before, allowing the vaccine to become available worldwide in six to seven months.

However, developed countries opposed Okonzo’s proposal to give up intellectual property rights for vaccines, saying, “We will not be able to conduct expensive research for vaccine production.”

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