Making COVID vaccines in Africa: advances and sustainability issues
Author BENJAMIN KAGINA, University of Cape Town THE history of vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa dates back to 1881 when Egypt’s Vacsera company was established. Before the COVID pandemic was declared, there were eight African countries that, to our knowledge, had a record of vaccine manufacturing facilities (see the map). They were: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia (North Africa); Nigeria and Senegal (West Africa); Ethiopia (East Africa); and South Africa. Between them, they had 14 facilities. Few were involved from end to end (discovery, fill and finish, pack and distribute) production process. Instead, the focus was largely on the late…