Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. J&J approved, not ordered. Supply picking up. Not yet approved: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
1. Tai supports the waiver for COVID-19 *vaccines*. The waiver proposal is for all products related to the pandemic: medicines, testing kits, PPE, ventilators, etc
2. She anticipates a long negotiation, suggesting the US *might* be seeking constraints or conditions
3. The proposed waiver is not only for patents, which already have flexibilities such as compulsory licensing, but also three other areas, which don't—copyright, industrial designs and trade secrets.
It will be interesting to see if the US accepts waiving all four areas
I'm happy to read about where policies might be going wrong, to discuss whether the characterisation of the ideologies behind trade liberalisation are correct.
But is the WTO is only of that ideology? The leap to "WTO reform" is illogical
1. It's false to assume that "rules-based" (p8) means the same as "liberalisation". You can have "rules-based" trade barriers and indeed the WTO agreements allow for many. Some argue that having predictable rules is more valuable than lowering tariffs that are already low.
2/5
2. Which highlights the fact that WTO agreements—the outcome of negotiations—are a compromise between different interests and different ideologies. The WTO system does not come from just one ideology.
That makes the paper's notion of "WTO reform" quite off target.
3/5
Today's meeting was both a formal Trade Negotiations Committee and informal heads of delegations—unclear how that works since "formal" is on the record with minutes and "informal" is off the record with no minutes.
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. J&J approved, not ordered. Supply picking up. Not yet approved: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
…One minister insisted the draft mustn’t be released until approved. Next moment, delegates from that country were in the press room giving copies to favoured journalists…
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. J&J approved, not ordered. Supply picking up. Not yet approved: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. J&J approved, not ordered. Supply picking up. Approval waiting: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. Supply picking up. Still waiting for approval: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. Supply picking up. Still waiting for approval: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
2/10
Vaccinations and virus variants
“Fully” = second dose
Steady growth, deliveries up
Delivered: 2.1m=23.9% (from 1.7m)
Administered: 1.4m=17.8% (from 1.2m)
Fully: 577K=6.7% (from 507K)
1. The WTO SPS Agreement is “as relevant and applicable today as [ever], and [continues] to safeguard the right for Members to take measures necessary for the protection of human, animal or plant life or health”
The SPS Committee improves implementation via transparency
2/4
2. But the world is changing. The draft proposes a new work programme (don’t yawn)—but not negotiating new obligations or amending the SPS Agreement
3. Interesting: the countries NOT on the list—eg EU, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, UK. Why? …
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. Pfizer supply delayed. Still waiting for approval: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
2/10
Vaccinations, virus variants
“Fully” = second dose
Steady growth, deliveries up
Delivered: 1.7m=19.8% (from 1.4m)
Administered: 1.4m=15.6% (from 1.2m)
Fully: 507K=5.9% (from 433K)
Moutier will vote on Sunday for the ninth time in 71 years on whether it wants to belong to the French-speaking canton of Jura or stay with German-speaking Bern.
@swissinfo_en traces the history back to deals struck at the post-Napoleon Vienna Conference
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. Pfizer supply delayed. Still waiting for approval: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. Pfizer supply delayed. Still waiting for approval: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people
7 added to My Authors
