Hope Biden asks Pfizer to allow India develop its vaccines: US Congressman

With millions of lives at stake amid a rapid spread of Covid-19, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said he hoped President Joe Biden would call the Pfizer CEO to let India produce its vaccine

With millions of lives at stake amid a rapid spread of COVID-19, Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna said he hoped President Joe Biden would call the Pfizer CEO to let India produce its vaccine at least for six months or a year. Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley in the US House of Representatives, has been an ardent supporter of the move by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver of COVID-19 vaccines.

“Allow India to develop that vaccine, and this is good in your own long-term interests. It’s good for the United States and our interests with the role with India and the rest of the world,” Khanna told the media. Major pharma companies like Pfizer and Moderna and organisations like the US Chambers of Commerce are opposing such a move.

A day earlier, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai spoke with the CEOs of Pfizer and AstraZeneca regarding the TRIPS waiver, which is slated to come up before the WTO on May 5. “I do know there are very senior people in the administration who are supportive of it. We are making the case to the White House. And my hope is that the President would at least call the Pfizer CEO and say, look, your long-term strategy in India, a huge market, just in your economic interest, at least waive it for six months or a year,” Khanna said.

Microsoft founder and eminent philanthropist Bill Gates in a media interview on Monday opposed the move. Asked about it, Khanna said, “I rarely think Bill Gates is wrong, but this is a case I hope he will engage. The point that Bill Gates made about manufacturing capacity being restricted is absolutely correct. But what I said is why not have a global fund, USD25 billion, to help with manufacturing capacity and then allow the vaccine recipes to be shared.”

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