Not Tripping over TRIPS: An Analysis of Necessity and Legality of the COVID-19 TRIPS Waiver Proposal
Ahan Gadkari1, Sofia Dash2
1Ahan Gadkari*, 4th Year BA. LLB Candidate, O.P. Jindal Global University, Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, India.
2Sofia Dash, 1st Year BA. LLB Candidate, O.P. Jindal Global University, Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, India.
Manuscript received on December 09, 2021. | Revised Manuscript received on December 25, 2021. | Manuscript published on January 30, 2022. | PP: 61-65 | Volume-10 Issue-5, January 2022. | Retrieval Number: 100.1/ijrte.E66750110522 | DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.E6675.0110522
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: The availability of vaccinations against COVID-19 provides hope for containing the epidemic, which has already claimed over 2.84 million lives. However, inoculating millions of individuals worldwide would need large vaccine manufacturing followed by fair distribution. A barrier to vaccine development and dissemination is the developers’ intellectual property rights. India and South Africa have jointly sought to the World Trade Organization that certain TRIPS rules of COVID-19 vaccines, medicines, and treatments be waived. This piece argues for such a waiver, highlighting the unique circumstances that exist. It believes that TRIPS’s flexibilities are inadequate to cope with the present epidemic, particularly for nations without pharmaceutical manufacturing competence. 
Keywords: Intellectual Property Rights, COVID-19 Vaccines, TRIPS Agreement, WTO
Scope of the Article: Mechanical Engineering.