Moderna - The African Mirror

Apr

2022

COVAX, African Union decline to buy more doses of Moderna’s COVID shots

COVAX, the global project to share COVID-19 vaccines, and the African Union have declined options to buy additional doses of Moderna's shot, as developing nations struggle to allocate supplies. The global alliance did not exercise the option for 166 million doses of the shot for the third quarter of 2022, as well for 166 million doses in the fourth quarter, which expired on April 1, a Moderna spokesperson said. COVAX, which is backed by Gavi, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, is struggling to place more than 300 million doses, Reuters reported in February. Moderna and…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

How drug companies are sidestepping the WHO’s technology transfer hub in Africa

COVID-19

PHARMACEUTICAL company Moderna announced on 7 March 2022 that it would develop a site in Kenya to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. The company holds much of the key intellectual property relating to the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Due to their higher efficacy, mRNA vaccines are the preferred option in developed countries. They account for 92% of all vaccinations to date in the US and European Union. Author DAVID RICHARD WALWYN, Professor of Technology Management, University of Pretoria Moderna’s decision to continue making the vaccine itself, though on the Kenyan site, is a signal that the company (at least for the moment)…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

African countries to get mRNA vaccine technology in WHO project

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF and ALEXANDER WINNING THE World Health Organization said six African countries - Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia - would be the first on the continent to receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines. The technology transfer project, launched last year in Cape Town, aims to help low- and middle-income countries manufacture mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standards. mRNA is the advanced technology used by companies such as Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna for their COVID-19 shots. The WHO established its global mRNA technology transfer hub after large-scale vaccine purchases by wealthy countries and companies prioritising…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE: WHO-backed vaccine hub for Africa to copy Moderna COVID-19 shot

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF EFFORTS to develop an African base for COVID-19 vaccine production will focus on trying to replicate Moderna's shot, but a lack of progress in talks with the U.S. company means the project will take time, a senior WHO official told Reuters. The drive to produce vaccines in Africa is designed to help more developing countries access COVID-19 shots after rich nations bought up most of this year's supply. Moderna said last October it would not enforce patents related to its shot during the pandemic, raising hopes that other companies might be able to copy it and help boost…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya and Ghana to get vaccines from the US

COVID-19

THE United States will begin shipping more than 2 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to Kenya and Ghana on Wednesday through the COVAX global distribution program, a White House official said. The United States is sending 880,460 doses to Kenya and 1,229,620 doses to Ghana, the official said, the latest instalments in a U.S. vaccine diplomacy push that has sent vaccines to dozens of countries. The doses will be delivered through the COVAX facility, jointly run by the World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). Africa has lagged sharply behind other regions in vaccinating…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria prioritising four COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19

NIGERIA is prioritising the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the official heading Nigeria's COVID-19 vaccination campaign has said, when asked whether the Sinopharm shot would be used in the country. Dr Faisal Shuaib, head of Nigeria's primary healthcare agency, said the Sinopharm vaccine had been approved by the national medicines regulator "for emergency use", but rolling it out was not a priority. "We don't want a situation where we may have 10, 20 vaccines that have been globally recognised or listed for emergency use, and then you want to take all 20 vaccines to Nigeria, it doesn't…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

Moderna says its shot remains 93% effective

COVID-19

MICHAEL ERMAN MODERNA Inc has revealed that its COVID-19 shot was about 93% effective four to six months after the second dose, showing hardly any change from the 94% efficacy reported in its original clinical trial. That compares favourably to data released by rivals Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE last week in which they suggested their vaccine's efficacy waned around 6% every two months, declining to around 84% six months after the second shot. Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. "We are very pleased that our COVID-19 vaccine efficacy is stable at 93%…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Botswana pays $15 a dose for vaccine

COVID-19

BOTSWANA’S health minister said on Friday that the government was paying the equivalent of $15 a dose for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech and almost $29 a dose for U.S. company Moderna's shot. African countries have struggled to procure enough vaccines in the global scramble for doses, with coverage secured through World Health Organization (WHO) and African Union (AU)-backed schemes so far falling short of the continent's needs. Under pressure over a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, health minister Edwin Dikoloti revealed how much the diamond-rich southern African country was paying in bilateral deals with pharmaceutical companies…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria expects nearly 8 million vaccines

COVID-19

CHIJIOKE OHUOCHA NIGERIA expects to receive nearly 8 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of August, including from a U.S. government donation, the head of its primary care agency said on Tuesday. Faisal Shuaib, head of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), said Nigeria exhausted its initial supply of nearly 4 million shots last week and aims to resume vaccinations within weeks, when the new doses arrive. Nigeria expects delivery of 3.924 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca shots from global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX by the end of July or early August, Shuaib said, and an additional…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

‘African vaccine hubs could be revolutionary’

COVID-19

EMMA FARGE PLANS for Africa's first independent COVID-19 vaccine production hubs could revolutionise the global vaccine industry but will depend on the willingness of pharmaceutical companies to share their technology, the World Health Organization has said. The Geneva-based health agency said last week it is setting up a hub with South Africa to give poorer countries the tools to produce their own COVID-19 vaccines using mRNA technology currently used in Moderna and Pfizer's COVID shots. WHO's Agnès Buzyn, the WHO head's envoy for multilateral affairs, said that several other African and Asian countries had also applied and discussions with Senegal…