Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will take steps to ensure that Gavi supports (a) the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool and (b) other measures and solutions that aim to overcome intellectual property barriers that limit the number of manufacturers of the covid-19 vaccine and, as a result, access to that vaccine.

The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, playing a leading role in financing the global effort, and working to identify end-to-end solutions that ensure affordable access for all.

The UK believes that the Intellectual Property (IP) system has acted as an enabler during the pandemic. We are committed to working with international partners, including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, on initiatives such as the World Health Organization's COVID-19 technology access pool (C-TAP). We are taking action to bring industry and researchers to the table on C-TAP, and will continue to do so where it strengthens the international pandemic response.

The UK is committed to collaborating with public and private partners, both in the UK and internationally, in exploring voluntary arrangements for sharing intellectual property. We encourage approaches such as non-exclusive voluntary licensing, which promote affordable access for all, while also providing incentives to create new inventions to accelerate development and equitable access to affordable health technologies in all countries for responding to COVID-19.