The South African government says it will manufacture Covid-19 vaccines for 55 African Countries under African Union.
COVID-19 vaccine makers BioNTech and Pfizer on Wednesday revealed that they had found a South African partner to produce their jab locally.
The move comes amid growing criticism of vaccine inequality that has seen poor countries fall behind richer ones in the race to protect people from the coronavirus.
Under the agreement, Cape Town-based Biovac will complete the last step in the manufacturing process of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, known as “fill and finish”, the companies said in a statement.
The project will take time to get off the ground however, with the first African-finished vaccines not expected before 2022.
Once up and running, Biovac is set to churn out more than 100 million doses annually that will be distributed to the 55 countries in the African Union.
Last month, Zimbabwean Billionaire Strive Masiyiwa accused western countries of refusing to sell Covid-19 vaccines to African Countries.
He further reveled that the African Union will manufacture about 400 million vaccines in an South African industry.
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