Advertisement
What does Africa need to make more coronavirus vaccines?
- Facilities across the continent are producing doses under license from overseas pharmaceutical firms
- So far output has involved ‘filling and finishing’ and been well short of local demand
Reading Time:5 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Just 18 months after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Egyptian vaccine maker Vacsera passed a milestone.
Advertisement
Last weekend, the company celebrated the production of its first million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese firm Sinovac.
A similar effort is under way at the other end of the continent, where South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare is producing Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus shots. The two companies signed an agreement in November and the first batch was produced in May.
Both operations are “fill and finish” production lines and part of drives to secure a sustainable and affordable supply of vaccines for a continent heavily dependent on help from global initiatives.
But with less than 2 per cent of Africa’s population, or 16 million people, fully vaccinated, it will take much more effort to ensure the continent is inoculated against the disease.
Advertisement
“[It’s] not enough. We need to have one [plant] in South Africa, in Ethiopia and in some African countries so that Africa can survive this pandemic,” said Dawano Kedir Haji, deputy head of mission at the Ethiopian embassy in China.
“Only a few people are vaccinated in Africa. We need to do so for everyone because this pandemic cannot be stopped in a very short time.”
Advertisement