According to the World Health Organization, Nigeria and five other African countries will shortly begin producing the COVID-19 vaccine.
Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia were announced as the first users of technology from the WHO’s global mRNA vaccine centre in a statement released on Friday.
At the African Union conference in Brussels on Friday, Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus stated the six countries would obtain the technology needed to create mRNA vaccines on the African continent.
The announcement was made in the presence of President Macron, President Ramaphosa, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at a ceremony hosted by the European Council, France, South Africa, and the World Health Organization.
Part of the statement read, “Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia all applied and have been selected as recipients.
“The global mRNA technology transfer hub was established in 2021 to support manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines, ensuring that they have all the necessary operating procedures and know-how to manufacture mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standards.
According to him, the bub was primarily set up to address the COVID-19 emergency and it has the potential to expand manufacturing capacity for other products. He also said the it puts countries in the driver’s seat when it comes to the kinds of vaccines and other products they need to address their health priorities.
“Depending on the infrastructure, workforce and clinical research, and regulatory capacity in place, WHO and partners will work with the beneficiary countries to develop a roadmap and put in place the necessary training and support so that they can start producing vaccines as soon as possible.”
Also, he advocated for equitable access to vaccines in order to beat the pandemic, and railed against the way wealthy nations have hoarded doses, leaving Africa lagging behind other continents in the global vaccination effort.
He said, “No other event like the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that reliance on a few companies to supply global public goods is limiting, and dangerous.
“In the mid-to-long term, the best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture the health products they need, with equitable access as their primary endpoint.”
