In October 2020, South Africa and India presented a proposal to waive the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement for COVID-19 protected intellectual property rights. The goal of this proposal was to increase the speed at which COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines could be produced by allowing any producer with the capacity to produce them to do so. To date, the proposal has the support of over 100 countries, however, all WTO members must approve a waiver, and some, such as the European Union are not in support, thus preventing the waiver from being passed. Last week, details of a proposed compromise to this proposal were leaked; this compromised proposal is more likely to pass in the WTO, however, critics are saying it is too restrictive to offer much help in reaching its goal.

The compromise differs from the original waiver in some key ways: namely, the compromised waiver would only apply to vaccine patents instead of all protected areas, and would only apply to developing countries who exported less than 10% of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 and would require product-by-product authorization by governments, which is time-consuming. The response to this compromised proposal from the international community has been largely negative.

Brook Baker from the Health Gap calls the compromise “an abomination,” Stuart Trew from The Monitor has called it “a disgrace.” While there are some more positive responses, arguing this is at least a step in the right direction, the majority of responses are similar to this nature.

The nature of the critiques is largely that the compromised proposal is so limited, it is hardly better than nothing. Max Lawson, the head of Inequality Policy for Oxfam, has said, “In a crisis, half measures are not acceptable.”

From looking at the details of the compromise, it is difficult to not agree with the negative responses it has received. In a time when only 14% of people in low-income countries have received their first dose of a COVID vaccine, while much of the developed world has access to third and fourth booster shots, there is clearly a need to address this high level of inequality. By protecting patent rights over global health and wellbeing, this compromise does not do enough. However, it is difficult to imagine all countries supporting a full waiver of the TRIPS Agreement — despite that being what is best for billions of people — so the compromise is at least a starting point.

There is still much to be seen about the implications of this compromise. The first will be if the compromise will be passed in the WTO or if some countries will still oppose it. Then, it will be seen how limiting the compromise is in practice, or if it will at least increase production to a meaningful level to speed up vaccine production and distribution to low-income countries. If it can do this, then this compromise could be a step toward addressing the low vaccination rates in many countries, and a further step toward the end of this pandemic. If the compromise is as limited as many critics say, then there will likely continue to be low vaccination rates, new variants, and continued health issues around the world from COVID-19. If this is the case, then the international community has continued to fail to protect the most vulnerable nations with this compromise that places patent rights and producer profits above health and safety.