Over the past year, the world witnessed unprecedentedly rapid development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, largely owing to US public investment. And now it is clearly in America’s national interest to scale up global vaccination efforts by supporting a waiver of intellectual property rights.
This commentary is co-signed by: Peter Agre – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2003); Esko Aho – Prime Minister of Finland (1991-95)¹; Harvey J. Alter – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2020); Hiroshi Amano – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2014);Werner Arber – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (1978);Shaukat Aziz – Prime Minister of Pakistan (2004-07)²; Rosalia Arteaga – President of Ecuador (1997)²; Joyce Banda – President of the Republic of Malawi (2012-14)¹; Françoise Barré-Sinoussi – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2008); Sali Berisha – President of Albania (1992-97), Prime Minister (2005-13)²; Valdis Birkavs – Prime Minister of Latvia (1993-94)¹; Elizabeth H. Blackburn – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2009); Kjell Magne Bondevik – Prime Minister of Norway (1997-2000; 2001-05)¹; Ouided Bouchamaoui – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate with the Tunisian Quintet (2015)³; Kim Campbell – Prime Minister of Canada (1993)¹; Mario R. Capecchi – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2007); Fernando Henrique Cardoso – President of Brazil (1995-2003)¹; Martin Chalfie – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2008); Joaquim Chissano – President of Mozambique (1986-2005)¹; Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca – President of Malta (2014-19)¹ ²; Emil Constantinescu – President of Romania (1996-2000)²; Mairead Corrigan Maguire – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1976); Mirko Cvetković – Prime Minister of Serbia (2008-12)²; Luisa Diogo – Prime Minister of Mozambique (2004-10)¹; Peter Doherty – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (1996); Shirin Ebadi – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2003)³; Mohamed ElBaradei – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2005)³; François Englert – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2013); Gerhard Ertl – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2007); Adolfo Pérez Esquivel – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1980); Mohamed Fadhel Mahfoudh – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate with the Tunisian Quintet (2015)³; Andrew Z. Fire – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2006); Edmond Henri Fischer – Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1992)³; Jan Fischer – Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (2009-10)²; Joachim Frank – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2017); Chiril Gaburici – Prime Minister of Moldova (2015)²; Leymah Gbowee – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2011)³; Andre Geim – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2010); Sheldon Glashow – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (1979); Joseph L. Goldstein – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (1985); Mikhail Gorbachev – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1990); President of the Soviet Union (1985-1991)³; David J. Gross – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2004); Dalia Grybauskaitė – President of Lithuania (2009-19)¹; Ameenah Gurib-Fakim – President of Mauritius (2015-18)²; Alfred Gusenbauer – Chancellor of Austria (2007-08)¹; Jeffrey Connor Hall – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2017); John L. Hall – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2005); Tarja Halonen – President of Finland (2000-12)¹ ²; Leland H. Hartwell – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2001); Richard Henderson – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2017); Dudley R. Herschbach – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (1986); Jules A. Hoffmann – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2011); Roald Hoffmann – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (1981); François Hollande – President of France (2012-17); Tasuku Honjo – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2018); Gerardus ‘t Hooft – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (1999); Michael Houghton – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2020); Robert Huber – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (1988); Tim Hunt – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2001); Louis J. Ignarro – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (1998); Dalia Itzik – President of Israel (2007)² ; Mladen Ivanić – President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2014-18)²; Gjorge Ivanov – President of North Macedonia (2009-19)²; Elfriede Jelinek – Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature (2004); Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – President of Liberia (2006-18); Mehdi Jomaa – Prime Minister of Tunisia (2014-15)¹; Brian D. Josephson – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (1973); Ivo Josipović – President of Croatia (2010-15)¹ ²; Takaaki Kajita – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2015); Eric R. Kandel – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2000); Tawakkol Karman – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2011)³; Wolfgang Ketterle – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2001); Kolinda Grabar Kitarović – President of Croatia (2015-20)²; Roger D. Kornberg – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2006); Jadranka Kosor – Prime Minister of Croatia (2009-11)²; Leonid Kuchma – President of Ukraine (1994-2005)²; Aleksander Kwaśniewski – President of Poland (1995-2005)¹ ²; Finn E. Kydland – Nobel Prize in Economics (2004); Ricardo Lagos – President of Chile (2000-06)¹; Zlatko Lagumdžija – Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001-02)¹ ²; Yuan T. Lee – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (1986); Robert J. Lefkowitz – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2012); Anthony J. Leggett – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2003); Jean-Marie Lehn – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (1987); Yves Leterme – Prime Minister of Belgium (2008, 2009-11)¹ ²; Tomas Lindahl – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2015); Petru Lucinschi – President of Moldova (1997-2001)²; Igor Lukšić – Prime Minister of Montenegro (2010-12)²; Roderick MacKinnon – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2003); Mauricio Macri – President of Argentina (2015-19)¹; Moussa Mara – Prime Minister of Mali (2014-15)²; Giorgi Margvelashvili – President of Georgia (2013-18)²; Eric S. Maskin – Nobel Prize in Economics (2007); John C. Mather – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2006); Michel Mayor – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2019); Arthur B. McDonald – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2015); Péter Medgyessy – Prime Minister of Hungary (2002-04)²; Rexhep Meidani – President of Albania (1977-2002)¹ ²; Craig C. Mello – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2006); Rigoberta Menchu – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1992)³; Carlos Mesa – President of Bolivia (2003-05)¹; James Michel – President of the Seychelles (2004-16)¹; William E. Moerner – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2014); Mario Monti – Prime Minister of Italy (2011-13)¹; Edvard Moser – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2014); May-Britt Moser – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2014); Denis Mukwege – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2018)³; Herta Muller – Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature (2009); Nadia Murad Basee Taha – Nobel Peace Laureate (2018)³; Joseph Muscat – Prime Minister of Malta (2013-20)²; Bujar Nishani – President of Albania (2012-17)²; Ryoji Noyori – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2001); Olusegun Obasanjo – President of Nigeria (1976-79; 1999-2007)¹; John O’Keefe – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2014); Djoomart Otorbaev – Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan (2014-15)²; Orhan Pamuk – Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature (2006); JP Patterson – Prime Minister of Jamaica (1992-2006)¹; Edmund S. Phelps – Nobel Prize in Economics (2006); William D. Phillips – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (1997); Christopher A. Pissarides – Nobel Prize in Economics (2010); Rosen Plevneliev – President of Bulgaria (2012-17)²; John C. Polanyi – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (1986); Romano Prodi – Prime Minister of Italy (1996-98; 2006-08)¹; Stanley B. Prusiner – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (1997); Jorge Tuto Quiroga – President of Bolivia (2001-02)¹; Iveta Radičová – Prime Minister of Slovakia (2010-12) ¹; Venkatraman Ramakrishnan – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2009); José Manuel Ramos-Horta – President of Timor-Leste (2007-12) and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1996)¹; Charles M. Rice – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2020); Mary Robinson – President of Ireland (1990-97); José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero – President of the Government of Spain (2004-11)¹; Petre Roman – Prime Minister of Romania (1989-1991)¹ ²; Michael Rosbash – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2017); Juan Manuel Santos – President of Colombia (2010–18) and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2016); Kailash Satyarthi – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2014)²; Jean-Pierre Sauvage – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2016); Brian P. Schmidt – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2011); Gregg L. Semenza – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (2019); Jenny Shipley – Prime Minister of New Zealand (1997-99)¹; Stanislav Shushkevich – President of Belarus (1991-94)²; Vernon L. Smith – Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics (2002); Wole Soyinka – Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature (1986); Michael Spence – Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics (2001); Sir James Fraser Stoddart – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2016); Horst L. Stormer – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (1998); Petar Stoyanov – President of Bulgaria (1997-2002)²; Laimdota Straujuma – Prime Minister of Latvia (2014-16)²; Alexander Stubb – Prime Minister of Finland (2014-15)¹; Boris Tadić – President of Serbia (2004-12)²; Kip Stephen Thorne – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (2017); Susumu Tonegawa – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (1987); Martín Torrijos – President of Panama (2004-09)¹; Elbegdorj Tsakhia – President of Mongolia (2009-17) ¹; Danilo Türk – President of Slovenia (2007-12) and President of Club de Madrid¹; Desmond Tutu – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1984)³; Cassam Uteem – President of Mauritius (1992-2002)¹; Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga – President of Latvia (1999-2007) and Co-Chair Nizami Ganjavi International Center²; Filip Vujanović – President of Montenegro (2003-18)²; Lech Wałęsa – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1983); President of Poland (1990-95)³; Arieh Warshel – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2013); Torsten N. Wiesel – Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine (1981); Jody Williams – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1997); M. Stanley Whittingham – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2019); Sir Gregory P. Winter – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2018); Robert Woodrow Wilson – Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics (1978); Kurt Wuthrich – Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry (2002); Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo – Nobel Peace Laureate (1996)³; Malala Yousafzai – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2014)³; Muhammad Yunus – Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2006)³; Viktor Yushchenko – President of Ukraine (2005-10)²; Valdis Zatlers – President of Latvia (2007-11)²
¹ Member of Club de Madrid
² Member of Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC)
³ Courtesy of Yunus Centre, Bangladesh
