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I’ll explain Biden’s move on free anti Covid patents. Fabbri’s analysis (Limes)

3 years ago babelfish

I'll explain Biden's move on free anti Covid patents. Fabbri's analysis (Limes)

What are the geopolitical goals of the Biden administration on patents for Covid vaccines? The comment of the analyst of Limes, Dario Fabbri

US President Joe Biden, with an announcement that has displaced international partners and large pharmaceutical companies, has opened the possibility of suspending patents on anti-covid vaccines . The move serves to allow even the poorest countries to produce whey at home to get out of the pandemic as soon as possible. 

However, when dealing with US decisions or announcements, we must never forget the geopolitical dimension that accompanies every action of the country . “This is not a country like any other. It lives on power and not on economics, being in the first country on the planet ”, said Limes analyst Dario Fabbri , an expert on the United States, during the program“ Omnibus ”. 

Fabbri: "US vaccine propaganda was a disaster"

Among other things, in this first phase of the management of the vaccination campaign, the USA did not push the accelerator of propaganda. “From January to today, the Biden administration's vaccination propaganda management has been a disaster – continues Fabbri -. In a more or less questionable way, the US has chosen to take care of themselves first , to save themselves: preparing 1 billion and 400 million doses for 330 million inhabitants ”. Limes' analyst also recalls a half misstep of the US administration in this field: "Last week, with a somewhat embarrassing announcement, Washington explained that it will give a good chunk of the 70 million doses of Astrazeneca of which he disposes to India which, as we know, is doing very badly – underlines Fabbri -. The fact remains that the FDA, that is the authority responsible in the USA to control medicines, has not approved AstraZeneca, so it seems like the waste of waste ”. 

The campaign against Astrazeneca is part of a geopolitical plan

Among other things, the decision of the FDA not to accept the vaccines produced by AstraZeneca among the vaccines usable on American soil would be a geopolitical choice. “ The campaign against Astrazeneca was a geopolitical campaign – commented Fabbri -. And a vaccine has been treated that is just as good as the others as if it were tremendously dangerous for strategic reasons. Even from our country ". 

Use generosity as a tactical weapon 

What are Biden's real goals on vaccine patents? "The US wants to be generous because the vaccine weapon is a tactical weapon, not a strategic one, it will not change any hierarchy between the powers but the propaganda changes, the perception that one has of the various powers – remarked the analyst of Limes, expert in America -. It is not possible, from an American point of view, that with "differently valid" vaccines China and Russia are enjoying greater image success than the US and therefore the American intervention goes in this direction ". 

In a year, vaccines available in large quantities for the richest countries 

To these evaluations are added two others. The first is haste. By next year, all the more developed countries should have them available  large quantities of vaccines. “ Production will expand considerably and therefore it is worth intervening now when we can still make a good impression – underlines Fabbri -. In a year when they will be available to everyone, the good figure will be much less ". 

The US intervention in the testing of anti Covid vaccines 

Another critical point is that the vaccines that Biden announced the suspension of patents are not the result exclusively of private investment. “They were produced, as always happens in extraordinary cases like these, with the decisive contribution of governments – highlights the expert -. The " Warp Speed " program, made available by the Trump administration, but any other US administration would have , has spent billions of dollars so that the experiment could run the risk of failing , and fail several times. What normally a private pharmaceutical company cannot do in such a short time.  And so I think it is natural for the American administration to decide what to do with the patents, since a slice belongs to them ”. 

The role of Germany: the mercantilist vision of geopolitics 

Germany also plays a role in this affair because Pfizer-BionTech, which produces one of the anti-covid vaccines used in the US, is partly German, BionTech has received funding from the German government. “ Merkel is German, she has a mercantilistic conception of the story – says Fabbri -. The US is an imperial power therefore necessarily have a propaganda attitude, what they like to define soft power, and which is the irradiation of oneself linked to the narrative. All powers should. Germany is also a great power which, however, as a satellite of the USA, is focused on economic aspects ”. 

Big Pharma does not dictate the line to the US

Similarly to a previous analysis that had as its object the decision of the Big Tech to silence former US president Donald Trump , also in this case Dario Fabbri points out that it is not the Big Pharma companies that dictate the line to the US administration. “ Big Pharma is not a cartel that does what it wants . Like all multinationals they impose themselves on the governments of minor powers, as happens in our country – he concludes -. It is no coincidence that Premier Draghi moves in a circumspect manner with great caution, he intervened last, he did so with a concise statement. But when it comes to big powers, multinationals do what governments say . In Germany this does not happen, Merkel is in difficulty, while this happens in the USA, in China, in Russia, in all the great powers. Merkel has chosen a negative attitude on the level of the narrative but very close to the mercantilist interests of her country. I think it's a short-sighted position at this stage but we'll see ”. 

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/vi-spiego-la-mossa-di-biden-sui-brevetti-liberi-anti-covid-lanalisi-di-fabbri-limes/ on Fri, 07 May 2021 12:35:06 +0000.