CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION __________________
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A RESOLUTION prioritizing people over the profits of pharmaceutical companies; supporting the production of COVID-19 vaccine around the world; urging President Biden to end U.S. opposition to the Waiver from Certain Provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19 at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
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WHEREAS, COVID-19 is a global pandemic, spreading internationally; and
WHEREAS, rapid and widespread dissemination of vaccinations in all countries is at the center of the strategy by public health professionals to stop the spread of COVID-19 through the development of herd immunity; and
WHERAS, new COVID-19 variants continue to develop throughout the world, and the sooner vaccines are available in all countries, the greater the likelihood of success in the battle against COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, vaccinations are critical to reopening and economic recovery in both developed countries and the Global South; and
WHEREAS, one in five of Seattle's population is born in another county and they, and many more Seattle residents have family abroad, some living in countries without adequate access to vaccine; and
WHEREAS, on April 9, 2021, CNBC quoted World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus regarding vaccine doses that "over 87% have gone to high-income or upper- and middle-income countries, while low-income countries have received just 0.2%," and that "[o]n average, 1 in 4 people in high-income countries have received a coronavirus vaccine, compared with just 1 in more than 500 in low-income countries, according to Tedros"; and
WHEREAS, on February 17, 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported, "The disparity could also slow the global economic recovery more broadly and prolong the pandemic, by creating pockets of unchecked infection that could become breeding grounds for mutations of the...
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