The President of the European Council has said the bloc is ready to discuss a US proposal to lift patents on Covid-19 vaccines once the details are clear. "We are ready to engage on this topic, as soon as a concrete proposal would be put on the table," Charles Michel said as EU leaders discussed the issue in Porto.
Mr Michel, who represents the EU's 27 national leaders, cautioned however that the bloc has doubts that the idea "in the short term, that it's the magic bullet." The quickest solution to ramp up the distribution of vaccines globally was exports and the EU encouraged "all the partners to facilitate the export of doses," he said.