A patent is a document in which the inventor has the right to prevent third parties from producing, using, selling or importing the product subject to the invention for a certain period of time. Almost anything invented is covered by patent protection. The vaccine is among these inventions and the vaccine has a patent. Jonas Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine: “Eliminating death is more important than personal gain.” He rejected the idea that the vaccine should be patented. Do you think the vaccine should be patented? Let’s examine together.
First of all, let’s look at the benefits of patenting the vaccine. Put yourself in the shoes of the person who found the vaccine. You’ve worked so hard to find this vaccine. Wouldn’t you like to make money from this invention? Of course you would. For example, people who have now found the Covid-19 vaccine have earned an amount of money that they could not spend in their lifetime. In addition, the vaccine is a very important political trump card. The country where the vaccine is found can put pressure on other countries thanks to the patent. In other words, there are many benefits of patenting the vaccine for the person who invented the vaccine and the country where the vaccine is located. Of course, it has many disadvantages for other countries as well. For example, other countries will feel pressured because the country that finds the vaccine can put pressure on other countries. Other countries will also need to purchase this vaccine. In other words, other countries will suffer both economically and politically.
So, what are the benefits of being a non-patentable vaccine? Since the vaccine is patented, not everyone can access it immediately. In fact, this is one of the most important issues that we need to examine. The real problem is that not everyone has immediate access to the vaccine. Too many people die as a result. For example, if the covid-19 vaccine were not currently patented, all countries could produce the vaccine and vaccinate their citizens immediately, and deaths would be less. In addition, countries would not be able to exert pressure against each other and would not be harmed politically.
I think both the person who found the vaccine and all countries can get what they want by reaching an agreement. First of all, in order to prevent deaths, countries need to produce the vaccine quickly and start vaccinating their citizens. The person who finds the vaccine wants money. This problem can be solved with a vaccine fund in which all countries participate. When the vaccine is found, all countries transfer a predetermined amount of money to this fund, and the person who finds the vaccine receives this money. The person who finds the vaccine also shares the vaccine formula, and as a result, everyone gets what they want. Thus, the vaccine does not need to be patented, and most importantly, many lives are saved.
In short, Jonas Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine, said, “Eliminating death is much more important than personal gain.” I totally agree with this statement and I think that the vaccine should not be patented. The solution I propose already proves that patenting the vaccine is not necessary, and it also solves a very important problem: Saving lives.