Drop Covid vaccine patent rules to save lives in poorest countries, UK and Germany told

G7 summit hears move would slash the cost of jabs and accelerate rollout of programmes across the developing world

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Britain and Germany were under intense pressure on Saturday to drop their resistance to proposals that would slash the cost of Covid-19 vaccines, following accusations that an agreement at the G7 summit to fund a billon doses will give the world's poorest countries crumbs from the table".

Aid agencies said rules that protect drug patents from being illegally copied must be waived during the pandemic to accelerate the rollout of vaccines and save lives across the developing world.