Panel Discussion on TRIPS Waiver and COVID vaccines

Department of IPR, Saveetha School of Law, SIMATS organised a panel discussion on TRIPS Waiver and COVID Vaccines on 22nd October 2021 from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon. The panellists were Dr. P. Kuganantham, Advisor, COVID Task Force, government of TN, Mr. K. M. Gopakumar, Senior Researcher, Third World Network, India and Mr. Murali Neelakantan, Principal Lawyer, Amicus Law Firm, Mumbai.The program started with a brief introduction to the issue under discussion by Dr. Prabha Nair, Faculty Coordinator. The first panellist Dr. Kuganantham elaborated upon the nature and history of the COVID pandemic, statistical data on death toll, vaccination etc and the efforts & preparedness of the government of TN in tackling the pandemic. Mr. K.M. Gopakumar, the second panellist explained the relationship between the availability, affordability and accessibility of vaccines and the various types of protected IPR over them. He also explained the flexibilities which the Member States of WTO can avail under the TRiPS agreement to address public health crisis such as this pandemic. Mr. Murali Neelakantan, the third panellist explained the current status of the TRIPS Waiver negotiations in the WTO and the reluctance of the government of India to make use of the TRIPS flexibilities to address the non- availability of vaccines within the country. The program ended with interactions among the panellists, faculty members and students followed by vote of thanks