Nairobi – US vaccine maker Moderna announced on Monday that it would build its first mRNA jab-manufacturing facility in Africa after signing an agreement with Kenya’s government to produce up to 500 million doses a year.
The company said it expected to invest $500 million (460 million euros) in the new facility, which will produce vaccines for the continent of 1.3 billion people whose population has been largely shut out of access to Covid jabs.
4/4 President Kenyatta has been in fore front championing for the African continent to manufacture its own COVID-19 vaccines in order to meet the demand of its population.
Read more: https://t.co/E7HzNC7Bht pic.twitter.com/11EOqs8Roz
— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) March 7, 2022
“Battling the Covid-19 pandemic over the last two years has provided a reminder of the work that must be done to ensure global health equity. Moderna is committed to being a part of the solution,” the company’s CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.
Moderna said it hopes to use the facility to supply doses of its Covid-19 jab to African nations as early as next year, in a bid to boost vaccine coverage on the world’s least immunised continent.
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“Moderna’s investment in Kenya will help advance equitable global vaccine access and is emblematic of the structural developments that will enable Africa to become an engine of sustainable global growth,” Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said.
More than a year after the world’s first Covid-19 shot was administered and two years into the pandemic itself, just 12.7% of Africans have been fully immunised, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The pandemic has exposed Africa’s huge dependence on imported vaccines and its tech weakness compared with Europe, China and the United States.
Moderna’s announcement follows a decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to create a global mRNA vaccine hub in South Africa last year, with Kenya among six African nations selected to be the first recipients of technology aimed at enabling local manufacturers to make jabs.
UPDATE: Moderna Vaccine manufacturing facility to be established in Kenya following signing agreement between the Govt of Kenya, Moderna & the US Govt; MoU for establishment of the Ksh60 billion plant was signed in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi. pic.twitter.com/sLpzemgYxV
— #KenyaMoja ?? (@ItsDavidMaina) March 7, 2022
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeatedly called for equitable access to vaccines in order to beat the pandemic, and attacked wealthy nations for hogging doses.
Currently only 1% of the vaccines used in Africa are produced on the continent.
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African and other developing nations are pushing at the World Trade Organization for a temporary intellectual property waiver to allow the generic production of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.
Europe the home of some of the major companies behind the vaccines has opposed the move, arguing that the first priority was to build up production capacity in poorer countries.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Unsplash
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