After more than a year of delay, the negotiation for a temporary waiver on intellectual property (IP) rights for COVID-19 medical tools under the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s Agreements on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is speeding up, with countries engaging on the proposal to advance the negotiation before the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva on November 30-December 3, 2021. The waiver, as initiated by South Africa and India in October 2020, and supported by multiple WTO members could provide a critical legal pathway for countries to facilitate more diversified and sustainable production and supply of COVID-19 medical tools. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) considers the adoption and implementation of the waiver are among the key actions that governments should take to turn the corner of the access challenges in COVID-19. We underline the following key elements as essential for inclusion in final text of the TRIPS waiver.