South Africa developing first African Covid-19 vaccine

A year after the creation of the mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub, a South African biotech company plans to develop an African Covid-19 vaccine.

South Africa’s Afrigen Biologics and Belgium’s Univercells will develop the first African-owned Covid-19 shot as part of a broader effort to reduce the continent’s reliance on other regions for vaccines.

During the signing of the agreement on Tuesday, Afrigen, based in Cape Town, said it is working to facilitate the production of mRNA vaccines at more than 15 manufacturing sites in low- and middle-income nations worldwide.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that there is a pressing need to build African capabilities in vaccine development and manufacturing. Without the capacity to make their own vaccines, too many countries haven’t been able to access them,” said Petro Terblanche, Afrigen’s managing director

Africa, which imports about 99 percent of the shots it needs, was left far behind wealthier nations in securing shots during the pandemic, with manufacturing concentrated in just a handful of countries.

The partners said they will seek to develop vaccines that are cheaper to produce and easier to store and distribute in rural and remote locations where few people have been vaccinated.

In December, the African continent missed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) target of vaccinating 40 percent of its population.

In December, the African continent missed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) target of vaccinating 40 percent of its population.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa was one of the most vocal countries when it came to condemning unequal vaccine distribution worldwide. President Cyril Ramaphosa repeatedly accused the EU and the West of “vaccine apartheid”.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). Tedros, has also labeled the inequity "vaccine apartheid" and a "catastrophic moral failure" that has led to a "two-track pandemic."