The Vaccination Effort That’s Just Getting Started
Newsletter 78: Will Biden’s picks for patent policy challenge a deadly status quo?
In a matter of days, the final restrictions on vaccine access will fall and every adult in the country will be eligible to get their shot. This lightning fast vaccine rollout which, as the latest surge in cases should underscore, will save many lives will surely be remembered as one of Biden’s major successes.
So long as it continues, his administration’s refusal to take steps to open-source coronavirus vaccines could go down as its greatest failure. Getting the world’s population vaccinated as quickly as possible is a humanitarian imperative and a public health necessity. Intellectual property protections on vaccines work against that goal by raising costs and limiting supply (resulting in slower uptake and the likely proliferation of new strains) all in the service of pharmaceutical companies’ profits. The Biden administration has important tools to steer the world off of this disastrous course. It must use them.
Transition:
Most immediately, it can announce its support for a waiver of the World Trade Organization’s Trade and Intellectual Property Rules (TRIPS) which would allow countries throughout the world to begin manufacturing generic versions of the vaccine. A coalition of over one hundred countries has been seeking the waiver since last year but the Trump administration, alongside several other wealthy nations, opposed it. So far, Biden has failed to reverse course. And while it’s true that the United States is not the only country that is continuing to stand in the waiver’s way, its decision to support it could be the decisive factor for others (especially if, as it should, the Biden administration actively lobbies the other holdouts).
On paper, the decision on TRIPS rests with the United States Trade Representative, Katherine Tai. Tai, whose selection progressives cheered, has been more than willing to challenge trade agreements’ giveaways to pharmaceutical companies. In practice, however, there are many who are weighing in on this monumental decision and many seem eager to keep the old order intact. Figures like Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have dodged questions about the TRIPS waiver, pointing instead to the United States’ contributions to COVAX, a global effort that will look to vaccinate 20% of the population in low- and middle-income countries. That is, needless to say, a fraction of what is needed. These countries will be left to pay the prevailing price for the remainder of the vaccine doses, potentially stunting vaccination efforts. And they will have no infrastructure to produce vaccines for potential variants, or the next pandemic down the pike.
On our blog last week, the project’s Sion Bell profiled another key player, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. The Commerce Secretary is the administration’s “top official on intellectual property rules,” meaning Raimondo will help set the Biden administration’s course for IP policy, on the TRIPS waiver and beyond. From that perch, she could be loudly advocating for the administration to end its support for a policy that will ensure that the vast majority of those in the world’s poorest countries do not receive the vaccine this year. Instead, she has indicated that “she would enforce strong IP protections for businesses domestically and in trade agreements, with no exceptions for essential health products like the COVID vaccines.” If it persists, this stance will lead directly to countless lives lost and could easily create the conditions for the proliferation of new strains that set the domestic pandemic response months or years back.
But Raimondo’s refusal to challenge IP protections also has implications beyond the pandemic. IP protections have long been keeping prescription drugs and medical technologies out of the hands of those that need them, sometimes with fatal consequences. Where people are still able to access the medicines they need, it often comes at an unnecessarily heavy cost to the individual and to the overall medical system. The Commerce Department is home to two offices that can challenge this regime: the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). As our Eleanor Eagan and Timi Iwayemi outlined for the blog, USPTO can take steps to make it easier for outside parties to challenge patents and begin to shift conceptions of who the office is meant to serve, among other moves that would bring big changes to IP policy. As the Intercept spotlighted recently, NIST was recently collecting comments on a proposal to place limitations on a mechanism by which the government can reclaim pharmaceutical patents based on government funded research.
Biden has not yet announced his picks to lead either office. If you care about drug prices and fighting pharmaceutical power, these are positions to watch.
You can add them to a long list of other open seats awaiting nominees. And while the nominations process is always slow, it’s notable that Biden is lagging behind Obama in this regard, even as he exceeds his example in others. As our Henry Burke details on our blog, Biden has made 27 fewer nominations than Obama at this point in his presidency. As the momentous 100-day mark fast approaches, Biden should look to exceed Obama’s example in this regard as well.
Speaking of 100 days, it seems that Biden may be set to reach that milestone with numerous Trump holdovers still wreaking havoc in his administration. For Public Seminar this week, our Sion Bell made the case that leaving IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in power would be nothing short of disastrous. Meanwhile, two other Trump holdovers, the Social Security Administration Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, are pressing ahead with cruel policies that make it harder for Americans with disabilities to claim their benefits. Biden should fire them all.
Governance:
Biden’s budget proposal is finally out, and our Sion Bell and Henry Burke dove into the details for the American Prospect. There is a lot that’s praiseworthy in this package. Biden has requested large budget increases for those agencies that were hardest hit under President Trump, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Education. Specific proposals to increase staffing levels by, for example, hiring back those who were pushed out under Trump, were music to our ears.
But while these requests are certainly laudable, Sion and Henry provide some important context to put them into perspective and demonstrate why Congress should go bigger still. While Biden’s proposal would increase funding at many agencies by 20 to 40% of the levels they were at in the final year of Trump’s term, in many cases it fails to match their funding levels prior to the Budget Control Act of 2010. If Biden wants to Build Back Better, he cannot use Trump’s exceptionally low bar as the baseline. To tackle current and oncoming crises, Biden must go beyond restoration to the pre-Trump or even pre-2010 status quo. Bold policy will require a federal government with the capacity to successfully implement it.
(As Sion and Henry highlight, rejecting the Trump baseline is also important when measuring reductions in harmful bloat. Biden’s proposal holds the Defense budget flat when compared to last year but keeps the Department’s budget high when compared to what it was in 2017.)
Independent Agencies
This week, Biden renominated Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission three months ahead of the date on which her term is set to expire. This is exactly the sort of proactive stance we have been looking for with regards to independent agency nominations. Biden should keep up the momentum by nominating officials for soon-to-expire seats on the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Federal Election Commission, among others.
And, of course, he should be nominating officials to existing vacancies much more quickly, starting with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. At present, the Board is stacked with Trump appointees. The Biden administration should be eager to begin tilting that balance as quickly as possible. Last week, the AFL-CIO put forward two candidates, Bill Spriggs and Lisa Cook. We agree that each of them “would bring the voice of ‘working Americans’ to the world’s most powerful central bank.”
Want more? Check out some of the pieces that we have published or contributed research or thoughts to in the last week:
Biden's Budget Should Build Back Even Better
Biden Must Fire IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig
Secretary Raimondo Must Act Quickly to Support the TRIPS Waiver
Will Todd Kim Promise To Defend The Environment In The Face Of Industry Pressure?
Revolver Spotlight: Amos Hochstein
Why You Should Care Who Leads the Patent and Trademark Office
Biden Cabinet Confirmations Show Continued Political Potency Of Revolving Door Critiques
White House meets little resistance in hiring former lobbyists
Did Democrats Blow Their Chance to Repeal a Slew of Trump's Regulatory Attacks?
Democrats unlock another go at reconciliation
Biden relies on progressive foe to lead immigration rollbacks
Small Farmers Balk at Another Big Agriculture Appointment
An ex-Google lobbyist who backed Jim Jordan is leading Big Tech’s bid to court the left
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