Rutgers global health expert Richard Marlink is available to discuss the waiving of vaccine patents to help increase global vaccination rates in less developed countries — a move the Biden administration recently supported ahead of negotiations with the World Trade Organization. He also urges for additional access to resources required to scale up vaccine production worldwide.
“Waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents is just one part of the equation,” said Marlink, director of the Rutgers Global Health Institute. “The ability to produce safe and reliable vaccines, and to scale up that production effectively, is what is really required. Other countries can have intellectual property or patent rights, but for this to work in any country, you really have to have the technical know-how, the right skills and materials, and regulatory safeguards in place. Inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is a difficult and urgent problem, and it won’t be solved by merely waiving patents. We need to help with all aspects of the solution for vaccine scale-up in and for developing countries.”
To interview Marlink, contact Maud Alobawone at modesta.alobawone@rutgers.edu or 848-445-1913.
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