South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has asked the World Trade Organisation to suspend intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines to bridge the huge gap in vaccination rates worldwide.

“The world is at this moment experiencing the debilitating effects of inequality in the patterns of global production,” Ramaphosa told a WTO round table by video link on the pandemic and trade-related issues.

“It is said that less than three per cent of adults are fully vaccinated in most low-income countries, compared to almost 60pc in high-income countries. This gross inequality is both unjust and counterproductive,” said Ramaphosa.

“Passing a time-bound targeted TRIPS waiver as proposed by South Africa and India — and now supported by many countries around the world — is urgent if we are to save millions of lives.”