The World Health Organization is in talks to make the first-ever technology transfer hub for Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa, a move that might boost supply to the African continent that’s desperately in need of doses.
The new consortium will include drug makers Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities and therefore the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
They will develop training facilities for other vaccine makers to form shots that use an ordering of the spike protein, referred to as mRNA vaccines. “I’m delighted to announce that the WHO is in discussion with a consortium of companies and institutions to determine a technology transfer hub in South Africa. In time, Afrigen could provide training to other manufacturers in Africa and beyond,” WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Many hope this initiative will help reduce inequalities when it involves access to vaccines. Out of the more than 1 billion anti-Covid doses administered globally, less than 1% have been in poor countries.
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Data source: Africa news