Nobel winners call on US to back IP waiver on vaccine production

More than 60 former heads of state and more than 100 Nobel Prize winners are calling on US President Joe Biden to back a waiver of intellectual property rules for coronavirus vaccines.

The waiver, proposed by South Africa and India, would boost vaccine manufacturing and speed up the response to the pandemic in poorer countries.

Such countries otherwise might have to wait years, the signatories said in a joint letter to Mr Biden on Wednesday.

“President Biden has said that no one is safe until everyone is safe, and now with the G7 ahead there is an unparalleled opportunity to provide the leadership that only the US can provide,” said former British prime minister Gordon Brown.

Based on the current pace of vaccine production, most poorer nations will have to wait until at least 2024 to achieve mass Covid-19 immunisation, the joint letter said.

“New mutations of the virus will continue to cost lives and upend our interconnected global economy until everyone, everywhere has access to a safe and effective vaccine,” said Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz.

With vaccinations making some travel possible again, Emirates started its trial of the International Air Transport Association’s Travel Pass on Thursday.

The free mobile app allows travellers to store and share test and vaccine certificates with airlines and governments.

Passengers travelling from Dubai to Barcelona on Emirates Flight EK185 were the first to test the digital passport that verified and shared their pre-travel test status with the airline.

“The ability to process passengers’ Covid-19-relevant data for travel digitally will be the way forward,” said Adel Al Redha, the airline’s chief operating officer.

The trial is being conducted on select Emirates flights from Dubai to Barcelona, as well as from London Heathrow to Dubai, but will soon be expanded to include other routes.