THE Bolivian government formally notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of their need to import 15 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines under an amendment to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

The 2017 amendment to the Intellectual Property (IP) agreement provides an additional legal pathway for import-reliant countries to access affordable medicines, vaccines and other pharmaceutical products.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Bolivia has so far administered 9,72,846 doses of the vaccine in its population of roughly 1.16 crore.

Bolivia signed with Canadian vaccine manufacturer Biolyse Pharma to provide the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine but were stuck awaiting the voluntary license from the vaccine’s patent holder.

Biolyse has pushed for a compulsory licence through Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), which is their legislation that reflects the WTO’s TRIPS. This would allow the manufacturer to override the patent required to produce for export to countries in need.

"This is an example of a WTO member seeking to make use of available tools under the TRIPS Agreement to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, even as members seek to expand the range of options through the TRIPS waiver proposal," said Mr Antony Taubman, Director of the WTO's IP Division.

The move opens up the possibility of importing the much needed vaccines from any one of around 50 WTO members that have put in place domestic laws providing for the production and export of medicines made under compulsory licence through this system.