Some experts say patent protections are unnecessarily limiting production of COVID-19 vaccines.
University of Ottawa professor Ronald Labonté says that waiving patents on the vaccines could unlock “untapped manufacturing capacity” around the world. Labonté cites UNICEF, which estimates that vaccine production could increase from 6.5 billion doses to 20 billion doses per year if manufacturers in India, China and other countries were fully utilized. London School of Economics professor Siva Thambisetty argues that Indian vaccine makers are primarily restricted by patents, rather than technological ability, as shown by a history of successfully producing generic versions of drugs like Tamiflu after patent restrictions were eased.
Manufacturers and governments have resisted calls to relax patent controls, while setting up their own industry alliances to boost availability of the vaccines.