Assembly urges government to support the Vaccine waiver

Covid-19 vaccine patents should be waived and pharmaceutical companies should be encouraged to enable increased global vaccine production.



The London Assembly has today called on the Chair of the Assembly to write to the Minister of State for Trade Policy asking the UK Government to support the vaccines waiver at the World Trade Organisation.



This Assembly endorses the proposal to waive patents on all Covid-19 vaccines, medicines and equipment and encourages companies, including AstraZeneca, to share their recipes and knowhow with the WHO, allowing the scale up of vaccine production across the world.



Caroline Russell AM, who proposed the motion said:



“Over 64 per cent of Londoners have now had two doses of the vaccine against coronavirus[1]. However, vaccination rates in low-income countries, as a group, are just 9 per cent[2].

“London as a global city has an obligation to support vaccination worldwide both for the safety of people living here and for communities it is closely linked with all over the world.

“To protect everyone’s health, Britain should be waiving patents for coronavirus medicines and sharing ingredients and techniques with factories that can produce them across the world. We’re carrying the tools in our back pocket to fix this awful situation but the Government refuses to hand them over for others to use.

“This motion cements that sharing information is not only the right thing to do, but it is our duty to keep people safe, and prevent new and dangerous variants emerging.”

Dr Onkar Sahota AM, who seconded the motion said:



“As things begin to slowly return to normal in our capital, we should not turn a blind eye to the fact that the pandemic is very much still with us and billions of people across the world are still not protected from this deadly virus.

“If we are going to move past this dark and difficult period, we must play our part in ensuring that the developing world has fair and affordable access to the vaccine and testing.

“At its heart, this should be a humanitarian endeavour, but taking this step would also help to prevent dangerous new variants from emerging.

“Pharmaceutical companies have a responsibility here to share vaccine recipes and expertise with the World Health Organisation. The Government must also support the chorus of calls for a vaccine patent waiver at the World Trade Organisation”.

The full text of the motion is:

This Assembly notes that vaccination rates in London have now reached over 64 per cent for two doses, but global vaccination rates remain well below the World Health Organisation (WHO) initial target for 40 per cent of populations to be vaccinated by the end of 2021.



This Assembly notes that the whole world’s safety from Covid-19 depends upon vaccinating the global population, and that London has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the UK. London is home to 60 per cent of Black residents of England and Wales and 50 per cent of the Bangladeshi population and has the highest proportion of non-UK born residents, at 37 per cent.



This Assembly notes that by the end of 2021 there were 98 countries that had not reached the 40 per cent target and in the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas, the UK, EU and US received more doses than all African countries received in the whole of 2021.



This Assembly notes that nearly 18 months ago India and South Africa proposed waiving patents on Covid-19 medicines and sharing the ingredients and techniques with all factories that could safely produce them. Over 100 such factories have been identified.



This Assembly notes the call to waive these patents has been joined by almost all developing countries, by the US president, the Pope, former Prime Minister The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, and most recently 300 scientists. They realise not only is it the right thing to do, but our ability to keep ourselves safe, and reduce the risk of new and dangerous variants, depends on people being vaccinated everywhere.



This Assembly agrees that as a unique global city, London has an obligation to support vaccination globally both for the safety of its own population and the communities it is closely linked with all over the world.



This Assembly endorses the proposal to waive patents on all Covid-19 vaccines, medicines and equipment. We encourage companies, including Astra Zeneca, to share their recipes and knowhow with the WHO, allowing the scale up of vaccine production across the world.



This Assembly calls on the Chair of the London Assembly to write to the Minister of State for Trade Policy asking the UK Government to support the vaccines waiver at the World Trade Organisation.