Is waiving vaccine patents the panacea?

The US has backed India and South Africa's bid to temporarily lift patent protection for COVID-19 vaccines. The support for an IP waiver by the WTO has left pharma companies dismayed and health activists asking for more. Public health activists say the easing of patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines will allow drugmakers in poor countries to start production of effective vaccines sooner and speed up the end of the pandemic, which if allowed to rage could see the emergence of vaccine-resistant COVID variants. The proposal was vehemently opposed by the previous US administration and other wealthy nations like Britain as well as the European Union, who said that a ban would stifle innovation at pharmaceutical companies by robbing them of the incentive to make huge investments in research and development. This, they argue, would be especially counterproductive during the current pandemic, which needed drugmakers to remain on their toes to deal with a mutating virus. So which side is right and will any of this lead us to have vaccines faster than the current rate of nothing for anyone outside of healthcare workers?