March 29, 2024

All 180,000 appointments were taken in Zurich +++ Over a million Swiss were vaccinated twice

All 180,000 appointments were taken in Zurich +++ Over a million Swiss were vaccinated twice

Switzerland still believes that lifting patent protection for vaccines is not the right solution in fighting the epidemic. But you will evaluate the “new proposal” from Washington.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said at the request of Keystone-SDA that the US announcement was “significant”. According to Seco, this temporary suspension will not guarantee “fair, affordable and rapid” access to vaccines and other technologies against the epidemic.

Economy Minister Jay Parmelin defended patent protection Thursday evening. This is necessary for innovation – so that new ideas can be developed and new developments brought about, he said in the daily news of SRF. Patents are important for scientists to find solutions.

Jay Barmelin at a media conference on April 28, 2021 in Bern.

Corner stone

The decision could lead to problems in future epidemics, fears Felix Ador, deputy director of the Institute for Intellectual Property. In Tageschaw in particular, he said, private players might take into account what their future contribution should be if the rules were simply broken during the race.

Switzerland is convinced that there is no easy solution because there are many components that must be taken into account and cooperation between all the actors is required. Ambassador Didier Champovi, Head of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the World Trade Organization (WTO), also stressed the need not to discourage pharmaceutical companies in their pursuit of innovation.

Non-governmental organizations criticize the Swiss position on patent protection. In addition, more than 8,000 people have signed an online petition in the past few days calling on the government to change its stance.

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