Editorial: Dropping patents may not solve the global Covid vaccine crisis

Every country must have access to Covid-19 vaccines, but the problem of distribution may rest more in the ability to produce drugs fast enough, rather than patenting

There is little doubt that the pharma industry is struggling to make enough vaccines to meet the expectations of a world desperate to put the pandemic behind it

In the race between the virus and the vaccine, the vaccine is catching up. A third of people in the Republic have received a first jab against Covid-19 so far. According to the Our World in Data project at Oxford University, 16 doses had been administered globally by last Thursday for every 100 people.

Yet the vaccination rate varies among countries. A third of Americans and a sixth of Irish people have been fully vaccinated, ...