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After 18 months of talks, a compromise was reached on a proposal to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 medical products, according to a document shared with STAT and confirmed by a trade official familiar with the negotiations. For the moment, the agreement reached between the European Union, South Africa, India and the United States, only covers vaccines, but in six months could be extended to therapies and diagnostics. Developing countries that have exported less than 10% of the world’s Covid-19 vaccine doses in 2021 would be able to authorize use of a patented vaccine without the consent of the patent owner. (Silverman, 3/15)

The EU, South Africa, India and the U.S. have reached a compromise in long-running negotiations on a waiver on intellectual property rights for coronavirus products, according to a document seen by POLITICO. Supporters of a waiver argue that it would have led to a significant increase in the production of coronavirus products during the pandemic and could have saved many lives. It would, in effect, have freed up producers to replicate coronavirus vaccines, tests and diagnostics without fear of infringing on pharmaceutical companies' patents. (Furlong, 3/15)

The CEO of the WHO Foundation has told CNBC that the global economy will lose “trillions of dollars” if more Covid-19 vaccines aren’t delivered worldwide. Anil Soni, who became the Foundation’s first CEO in January 2021, said “the governments of Europe and the West have a clear obligation to donate excess doses and to put money on the table to buy the vaccines, the volumes necessary to deliver to 70% of the world’s population this year.” The World Health Organization has set a target for 70% of the global population to be vaccinated by mid-2022. (Bryer, 3/16)

Hong Kong’s crematoriums are straining under the pressure of the world’s highest Covid-19 death rate, while a lockdown in the neighboring mainland China city of Shenzhen risks causing a shortage of coffins. “Our crematoriums are working day and night, and they are already close to their capacity,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing on Wednesday. “Within such a short period of time, we have seen so many deaths, and that would affect the logistics of funeral matters.” (Lew, 3/16)

China has put several of its industrial hubs under lockdown to confront its worst coronavirus outbreak in two years, restricting the movement of tens of millions of residents in measures that threaten to disrupt global supply chains. China, one of the few countries in the world to maintain a “zero-covid” strategy, is battling a surge of cases in at least 19 provinces that is testing the government’s commitment to minimizing infections as much as possible. (Kuo, 3/14)

Japan is set to announce on Wednesday the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions imposed on Tokyo and 17 other prefectures as a wave of infections caused by the Omicron variant continues to ebb. (3/16)

The Dutch government will drop its last remaining COVID-19 restrictions next week despite a recent rise in infections as the nation learns to live with the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday. The Netherlands has already ended a nationwide lockdown and scrapped most virus measures. As of March 23, wearing a face mask on public transport will no longer be obligatory. Masks will still have to be worn on airplanes and behind security screening at airports. (3/15)

Indonesia is calling on the International Monetary Fund to take on the role of preparing finances for the next global health emergency. The IMF could extend its mandate beyond responding to economic and monetary crises to address challenges in funding international health measures, Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in a panel during Bloomberg Live’s Asean Business Summit on Wednesday. The multilateral lender “can assume the risks with very clear structures and also modalities, they leverage funds as big as they can and quickly disburse it,” he said. (Sihombing and Fay Cortez, 3/16)