A few days after we made the Open COVID Pledge the focus of our weekly mission, we received the exciting news that tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, and Hewlett Packard had signed the pledge. But that wasn’t the only interesting news we learned this week. Here are some developments that should be on your radar:
- The European Union introduced a draft resolution to the World Health Assembly proposing a voluntary pool for intellectual property related to COVID-19. If it passes, this could be a significant step towards ensuring access and affordability for the vaccine and treatment around the world.
- The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution on strengthening global coordination to ensure access to diagnostics, vaccines, treatment, and personal protective equipment.
- The United States National Institutes of Health launched a public-private partnership to speed up COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development, unfortunately without any assurances for affordability.