South Africa’s efforts to produce vaccines are key to helping the African continent become more self-sufficient in inoculations to combat COVID-19 and many other diseases, the head of the world organization said on Friday. visiting health.
The Director General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesuswas visiting Cape Town to visit three facilities that are beginning to manufacture vaccines.
“More than half of the world’s population is now fully immunized, yet 84% of the African population has yet to receive a single dose“, said Dr. Tedros during a press briefing.
Mr Tedros added that he was “urgent” to increase the local production of vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.
He was also due to visit the Afrigen laboratory which, with the support of the WHO, is creating a vaccine COVID-19 from zero. The laboratory reproduces the vaccine Modern using vaccine technology mRNA. The laboratory afrigen is supported by the WHO and several other partners, including the governments of South Africa, France and Belgium. The initiative is also supported by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr Tedros said clinical trials of the candidate vaccine developed by Afrigen are expected to begin in 2022 and it is hoped that it will be authorized for use in 2024.