The Biden administrations announcement last Wednesday that it planned to support waiving intellectual property (IP) protections for COVID-19 vaccines prompted praise from global public health advocates and outcry from the pharmaceutical industry and corporate America more broadly.

But the historic statement of support, issued by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, does not make the waiver a done deal. Even if successful, the availability of vaccines could vary greatly based on the final details of the waiver.

The World Trade Organization requires unanimous consensus to both proceed with the discussion of changes to intellectual property agreements and to adopt those changes.

The United States declaration of support for a waiver merely unblocks a negotiation process at the WTO that the international bodys director-general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, estimated could take until December .

The declaration of support for a waiver of intellectual property rights for vaccines by Ambassador Tai, is momentous, but is only a first step, said Asia Russell, executive director of Health GAP, an affordable medicines advocacy group founded to expand access to HIV treatments in low-income countries. What comes next is that the U.S. must deliver on the substance of Ambassador Tais statement, not merely the letter.