Main negotiators reach 'outcome' on COVID vaccine IP waiver, WTO says

The four main parties to negotiations on an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines have prepared an 'outcome document' for approval by the broader membership, the WTO said on Tuesday, with its chief hoping for a final deal by June. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who has made vaccine equity her top priority since taking office in 2021, has been working for months to broker a compromise between the United States, the European Union, India and South Africa to break an 18-month-long impasse.