A medical worker prepares a dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 5 [Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]

Geneva, May 6 (RHC)-- The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has welcomed a decision by the United States to back intellectual property waivers for coronavirus vaccines, calling it “a monumental moment” in the fight against the deadly virus.

WHO Executive Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday commended the Biden administration’s support for waiving intellectual property rights as an example of “leadership to address global health challenges.”

U.S. President Joe Biden has faced increased pressure to back a World Trade Organization (WTO) proposal to waive the patents, a move that would allow more countries to manufacture much-needed COVID-19 jabs.  “Now let’s all move together swiftly, in solidarity, building on the ingenuity & commitment of scientists who produced life-saving #COVID19 vaccines,” Tedros tweeted.

Biden, who has overseen a rapid roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in the US, has faced growing calls to do more to support global vaccine equity and share the country’s vaccine supply with other hard-hit nations.

Dozens of countries, as well as rights groups, former world leaders and public health experts, have ramped up their calls for the patent waiver in recent weeks amid a deadly COVID-19 surge in several countries.

In a statement earlier on Tuesday, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Washington would engage in negotiations with the WTO on the waivers.  “Those negotiations will take time given the consensus-based nature of the institution and the complexity of the issues involved,” Tai said.

Over the weekend, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain had said Tai would hold talks with the WTO “on how we can get this vaccine more widely distributed, more widely licensed, more widely shared”.