NDP welcomes US support to lift COVID-19 vaccine patents

Jagmeet Singh Leader of Canada’s NDP issued the following statement calling on Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to stop protecting big pharma’s profits and do the same:

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant public health and economic threat to people in every country on the planet.

But in low-income countries, the situation is disturbing, and they don’t have the means to respond to it. Reports of COVID-19 cases from India are horrifying. The number of deaths is record-breaking. This surge has overwhelmed hospitals leading to shortages of ventilators and medical equipment to save lives.

People around the world need a coordinated global response and the ability to produce the vaccine in a timely way for distribution. This will save lives. More vaccines produced globally will help all of us.

Justin Trudeau must follow the US administration in supporting the suspension of drug patents for COVID-19 vaccines for the time of the pandemic. We’ve been asking the Liberals to do this for weeks to allow all countries to ramp up global production of the vaccine and get it in the arms of their populations.

Instead of protecting, big pharmaceutical companies’ profits, Justin Trudeau should be protecting human lives. These companies should not determine who should live or die. The Liberals need to stop putting the profits of big pharmaceuticals ahead of the health and well-being of people.

Families are mourning the loss of loved ones across the world. We need to work together and ensure every country can produce the vaccine to put an end to this pandemic.

Canada must do its part. We must lift vaccine patents and save lives.”