Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala attends a press conference on the annual global WTO trade forecast at the WTO's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 31, 2021. (SALVATORE DI NOLFI / POOL / KEYSTONE / AFP)

BRUSSELS – Waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines will not be enough to narrow the huge supply gap between rich and poor countries, the head of the World Trade Organization said on Thursday.

South Africa and India have urged fellow WTO members to waive IP rights on vaccines to boost production. Poorer countries that make up half the world's population have received just 17 percent of doses, a situation the World Health Organization head has labeled "vaccine apartheid".

Manufacturers should work to expand production, WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, pointing to idle capacity in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Senegal, South Africa

US President Joe Biden said last week he supported the waiver idea, but the European Union and other developed country opponents said it will not increase output.

Speaking to the European Parliament on Thursday, WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said it was clear that an IP waiver alone would not be enough.

"To have solved the unacceptable problem of inequity of access to vaccines, we have to be holistic. It's not one or the other," she said, adding this could not drag out for years.

The European Commission outlined a plan on Wednesday it sees as a more effective way of boosting output, using existing WTO rules, rather than a waiver. It notes countries can grant licenses to manufacturers to produce with or without the patent-holder's consent.

ALSO READ: US vaccine patent surprise roils pharma as WTO debate heats up

Bolivia signed a deal last week with a Canadian company Biolyse Pharma Corp to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which would require Biolyse to secure authorization from Johnson & Johnson or a "compulsory license" from Canada.

Okonjo-Iweala said developing countries had complained the licensing process was cumbersome and should be improved.

Manufacturers should work to expand production, she said, pointing to idle capacity in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand, Senegal, South Africa.

There also needed to be a transfer of technology and know-how, with vaccines often harder to produce than drugs.

"I'm convinced that we can agree a text that gives developing countries that kind of access and flexibility, whilst protecting research and innovation," she said.

ALSO READ: BioNTech: Prospective 2021 shot output approaching 3b doses

Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccines currently being deployed in the fight against the pandemic in Europe appear able to protect against all variants that are circulating and causing concern, the WHO’s regional director said on Thursday.

Hans Kluge said health authorities should remain vigilant on the rising number of cases in the region of COVID-19 caused by a variant that emerged in India, but stressed that vaccination and infection control measures would help prevent its spread.

"All COVID-19 virus variants that have emerged so far do respond to the available, approved vaccines," Kluge told a media briefing.

Countries across Europe are rolling out vaccines from several drugmakers, including Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Since the latest concerning variant, known as B.1.617, was first identified in India, it has spread to at least 26 countries out of the 53 in the WHO's European Region, Kluge said – "from Austria, to Greece, Israel to Kyrgyzstan".

READ MORE: Vaccines become a race against time as CDC warns of COVID-19 surge

"We are still learning about the new variant, but it is able to spread rapidly," he said, adding that it could, in theory, spread rapidly enough to displace another variant known as B.1.1.7 which first emerged in the UK late last year and has since become the dominant version of the virus in Europe.