COVID-19 Vaccine Patents Waiver: Macron slams US call to waive virus vaccine patents

European Union leaders said their criticism of the U.S.'s call to waive COVID-19 vaccine patents Saturday, arguing the move would bring no short or mid-term relief.

They instead urged Washington to lift export restrictions if it wants to have a global impact on the pandemic.

On the second day of an EU summit in Portugal, French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that giving any priority to discussing intellectual property rights now was a false debate. Instead, they joined previous EU calls for U.S. President Joe Biden to start boosting U.S. vaccine exports to contain the global COVID-19 crisis, insisting it was the most urgent need.