No more than 10 participants of the protest demonstration.
Opponents of the policy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding patent rights for coronavirus vaccines are holding a protest rally at the White House, where US-German high-level talks will be held on Thursday.
A group of activists unfurled a banner calling for “Germany, stop blocking the world’s coronavirus vaccines.” One of the protesters dressed up in an inflatable doll, which is given a resemblance to the German Chancellor.
There are no more than 10 participants in the protest demonstration. More journalists were covering the action. The US police and Secret Service officers guarding the territory near the White House did not interfere with the action.
“We call on US President Joe Biden to make the fight against the coronavirus pandemic the main topic at the meeting with Merkel and call on the Chancellor to stop blocking the suspension of intellectual rights to vaccines within the framework of the World Trade Organization. We urgently need to increase the production of vaccines in the world and end the pandemic,” Melanie Foley, a representative of the Washington – based public Citizen Organization told. According to her, the demonstrators plan to hold a picket near Johns Hopkins University, where Merkel will be awarded an honorary doctorate.
As stated on May 8, Merkel said at the end of the EU summit that the suspension of patent rights for vaccines will not solve the problem of supplying drugs for coronavirus but may affect their quality. The German Chancellor expressed hope that the United States will unblock the export of components necessary for the production of vaccines.
