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Rich countries signed away a chance to vaccinate the world

By Selam Gebrekidan and Matt Apuzzo
New York Times·
14 mins to read

Despite warnings, American and European officials gave up leverage that could have guaranteed access for billions of people. That risks prolonging the pandemic.

In the coming days, a patent will finally be issued on a five-year-old invention, a feat of molecular engineering that is at the heart of at least five major Covid-19 vaccines. And the US government will control that patent.

The new patent presents an opportunity — and some argue the last best chance — to exact leverage

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