South African President Ramaphosa welcomes US support for waiver of COVID-19 vaccine patents

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the support of the United States  administration for a temporary and targeted waiver of intellectual property protections that applies to COVID-19 vaccines.

The US government had announced on Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic was a global health crisis which called for extraordinary measures. 

“President Ramaphosa welcomes the position adopted by the US as an important reinforcement of a campaign led by South Africa and India on behalf of emerging economies that face vaccine shortage and production challenges,” the statement from the presidency said. 

The US said it believed strongly in intellectual property protections. However, in service of ending the pandemic, it would at forthcoming negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) support the waiver for COVID-19 vaccines. 

President Ramaphosa said the forthcoming WTO negotiations provide the global community and especially leading economies with both an opportunity and the challenge to act in the best interest of all humanity.