WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s decision to support waiving intellectual property rights for coronavirus shots won’t speed the manufacture of vaccines. And it enraged the developers who delivered lifesaving doses in record time. But Biden had a broader purpose: to broadcast his administration’s commitment to lead on the global stage. More than a month of internal debate led up to Biden’s decision this week to endorse international calls to strip patent protections for vaccines. While Biden had endorsed the policy shift during his campaign for the White House, the idea was the subject of pitched discussions inside the administration over how best to bring the pandemic to an end while restoring U.S. influence abroad.
