PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron joins the Biden administration in saying he backs sharing the valuable technology behind COVID-19 vaccines. But Macron also insists that wealthier countries’ immediate priority should first be donating more doses to poorer countries.
On Thursday’s visit to a vaccine center, the French leader said he “completely” supports opening up intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. Macron said, “We must turn this vaccine into a global public good.” But he also argued that even if patents are waived, pharmaceutical companies in places like Africa aren’t currently equipped to make COVID-19 vaccines and that donations of doses should be prioritized instead. Macron claimed that the European Union led vaccine donations and called for the United States and Britain to share more.
He said that “Europe is the most generous continent with the rest of the world,” having exported 45 million doses, and expressed hope that “the British, the Americans, and others will follow.”
He added, “in the short term, this will allow us to vaccinate.”
THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
– India hits another grim record, adding 400,000 new cases, as it works to move lifesaving supplies where they most neededBiden administration joining calls for more sharing of vaccine technology to help speed the end of the pandemic
– Every Republican in Congress voted against the pandemic relief bill Biden signed into law, but they’re touting its accomplishments
– India’s diaspora is tapping its wealth, clout, and expertise to help India combat its catastrophic coronavirus surge
– Most elementary and middle schools are open for in-person learning, but remote is still the choice of many students
Follow more of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine.
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
BELGRADE, Serbia – Hundreds of people lined up to get vaccinated at a shopping mall in Serbia’s capital on Thursday, hoping to get shopping coupons along with their shots.
Serbian authorities want to give incentives to help boost the vaccination pace in the country, which slowed down in recent weeks amid widespread anti-vaccination and conspiracy theories. The government has also promised a payment of around 25 euros to everyone who gets vaccinated by the end of May.
Long lines formed at Belgrade’s Use shopping mall as authorities said only the first 100 people would receive the coupons. Vaccines are set to continue at the shopping mall on Friday and Saturday.
A famous Serbian folk singer previously known as a vocal vaccine opponent also received a jab. Jelena Karleusa has told local media she wanted to show solidarity with Serbia’s health workers.
About 2 million people in Serbia have been vaccinated, primarily with doses of the Sinopharm vaccine developed in China, followed by the Pfizer-BioNTech, Russia’s Sputnik V, or the AstraZeneca vaccines.
