[ti:More Support Easing Vaccine Patent Rules, But Problems Remain] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]France joined the United States on Thursday [00:03.80]in support of easing patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines. [00:10.48]The action could help poorer countries [00:13.44]get more shots and quicken the end of the pandemic. [00:19.48]On Wednesday, the U.S. government changed its own position [00:24.16]and supported removing the protections. [00:27.32]It brought cheers from health activists [00:31.36]and complaints from drug companies. [00:35.92]During a visit to a vaccine center on Thursday, [00:39.68]French President Emmanuel Macron added, [00:42.48]"I completely favor this opening up of the intellectual property." [00:48.56]Despite his support for removing protections, [00:51.76]Macron also said it would not solve the problem [00:55.64]of getting more vaccines to more people around the world. [01:01.48]He noted that places like Africa [01:04.40]were not equipped to make COVID-19 vaccines. [01:09.56]He said vaccine donation should be most important. [01:14.84]While the backing from two countries [01:17.28]with big drug making companies is important, [01:20.88]many problems remain to be solved. [01:24.96]The idea of removing patent protections [01:28.12]was first floated by India and South Africa in October. [01:34.32]Some 80 countries, mostly developing nations, [01:38.44]have supported the Indian and South African idea, [01:42.60]an official who was not permitted to give his name said. [01:47.56]However, if one country in the World Trade Organization [01:52.32]votes against the plan, it will block efforts to make the change. [01:59.24]Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison [02:02.00]called the U.S. announcement "great news," [02:05.44]but did not answer a question [02:08.08]about whether his country would make the same decision. [02:12.68]South Korean officials said [02:14.64]they were also watching the Biden announcement, [02:17.48]but did not say they would do the same. [02:21.48]Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would support it. [02:27.56]The drug industry says that a faster answer [02:31.12]to the lack of vaccines in some parts of the world [02:34.16]would be for rich countries [02:36.04]to start sharing their vaccine supply with poorer countries. [02:41.72]The industry argues that production of coronavirus vaccines is difficult [02:47.00]and cannot be increased by easing intellectual property protections. [02:53.24]Instead, it says that reducing problems in supply chains [02:57.48]as well as the lack of vaccine ingredients [03:01.16]are the most important problems right now. [03:05.56]"A waiver is the simple but the wrong answer [03:09.16]to what is a complex problem," said the International Federation of [03:14.12]Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations. [03:19.28]The organization added that the idea "will not increase production [03:24.16]nor provide practical solutions" to the health crisis. [03:30.00]Intellectual property expert Shyam Balganesh [03:33.32]is a professor at Columbia Law School. [03:37.40]He said a WTO waiver could help [03:41.36]but it would only go so far because of other problems [03:45.36]in the manufacturing and shipping of vaccines. [03:50.80]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM