The White House expressed its support for waiving patent protections for the COVID-19 vaccine, which it hopes would speed vaccine manufacturing and distribution, said the New York Times. This would, at the very least, allow companies to make generic versions of the vaccine at a fraction of the price.

The idea had previously been proposed by the Indian and South African delegations to the World Trade Organization, both nations that have been suffering particularly hard under the virus, but the U.S. government expressing support for the measure gives a new seriousness to the possibility. European leaders have also expressed openness to the idea. Yet, even were this to go through, it would take time for the infrastructure for additional vaccines to develop, as well as for the patent holders to provide the technology and staff to the generic manufacturers.

As one might imagine, the pharmaceutical industry was not happy: industry representatives said such a move would undermine the safety of the vaccines themselves and discourage them from producing next generation vaccines as well. The former head of the FDA, Scott Gottlieb, who is currently a Pfizer board member, said it would be better if the U.S. simply released more vaccines from its stockpile.