Coronapod: Waiving vaccine patents and coronavirus genome data disputes
Nature Podcast
podcast@nature.com
4.5 • 893 Ratings
🗓️ 7 May 2021
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In surprise news this week, the US government announced its support for waiving patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, in an effort to boost supplies around the world.As fewer than 1% of people living in low-income countries have received COVID-19 vaccines, it is hoped that this move is a major step towards addressing this inequity by allowing manufacturers to legally produce generic versions of vaccines. We discuss the next steps that need to be taken to make this a reality, and why there is opposition to the plan.
Also on the podcast, we look at another aspect of coronavirus inequity: the sharing of genomic data. Around the world, researchers are racing to upload SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences to repositories, to help in the fight against the pandemic. One popular data repository, GISAID, requires users to sign in and acknowledge those whose data they analyse. Although a growing faction of scientists from wealthy nations are calling for the removal of gatekeeping requirements, scientists in the global south are pushing back, arguing that this will deprive them of credit and chances to participate in big-data analyses.
News: In shock move, US backs waiving patents on COVID vaccines
News: Why some researchers oppose unrestricted sharing of coronavirus genome data
News: Scientists call for fully open sharing of coronavirus genome data
Science: Coronavirus sequence trove sparks frustration
New York Times: Pfizer Reaps Hundreds of Millions in Profits From Covid Vaccine
Washington Post: Poor countries may not be vaccinated until 2024. Here’s how to prevent that.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Here's the truth about AI. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. |
| 0:05.8 | ServiceNow puts AI to work for people across your business, removing friction and frustration |
| 0:11.2 | for your employees, supercharging productivity for your developers, providing intelligent |
| 0:16.5 | tools for your service agents to make customers happier, all built into a single platform |
| 0:21.5 | you can use right now. That's why the world works with ServiceNow. Visit ServiceNow.com |
| 0:27.8 | slash UK slash AI for people. This message comes from BetterHelp. Can you think of a time when you |
| 0:34.1 | didn't feel like you could be yourself, like you were hiding behind a mask. |
| 0:38.3 | BetterHelp online therapy is convenient, flexible and can help you learn to be your authentic self, |
| 0:44.3 | so you can stop hiding, because masks should be for Halloween fun, not for your emotions. |
| 0:50.6 | Take off the mask with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com today to get 10% off your first month. |
| 0:57.2 | That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com. |
| 1:02.4 | Welcome to CoronaPod. |
| 1:05.8 | In this show, we're going to bring you Nature's take on the latest COVID-19 developments. |
| 1:11.7 | And we'll be speaking to experts around the world about research during the pandemic. |
| 1:18.0 | We're entering a new era now. We have new COVID strategies. There's some new unknowns, and we've |
| 1:23.8 | got a vaccine. |
| 1:30.1 | Hello and welcome to Corona Pod. |
| 1:33.7 | I'm Noah Baker and joining me from California is Amy Maxman. |
| 1:34.4 | Amy, how are you doing? |
| 1:35.2 | I'm good. |
| 1:40.8 | So last week we had a Corona Pod special, which was a kind of a different take from what you might normally hear on the show. |
| 1:42.5 | That was a documentary piece all about the |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from podcast@nature.com, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of podcast@nature.com and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.