Nabilah Safira
TechInAfrica – A transfer hub of COVID mRNA vaccine technology is being built within the collaboration of the World Health Organization (WHO), its COVAX partners, and South African based Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities, and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The transfer hub is part of the WHO’s Expression of Interest (EOI) to scale up COVID vaccines production.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the full extent of the vaccine gap between developed and developing economies, and how that gap can severely undermine global health security.”
“This landmark initiative is a major advance in the international effort to build vaccine development and manufacturing capacity that will put Africa on a path to self determination. South Africa welcomes the opportunity to host a vaccine technology transfer hub and to build on the capacity and expertise that already exists on the continent to contribute to this effort.”
“This is great news, particularly for Africa, which has the least access to vaccines,”Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said.
“COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of local production to address health emergencies, strengthen regional health security and expand sustainable access to health products.”
Source: Biztechafrica.com
