WHO advocates for Made in Africa COVID-19 vaccines
The problem of dissemination of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa from foreign countries has sparked the need for the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa.
The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom alongside other prominent leaders like Makhtar Diop and Tony Elumelu, are pushing for the private sector of countries across Africa to advocate for the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa.
The advocacy for the production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa is born out of the concern that the delay in the importation and delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines developed by foreign pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna would not help in reducing the effect of the pandemic on the African continent.
The Director of the International Finance Corporation, Makhtar Diop, went on to disclose that the company has been chasing after an increase in intra-African trade which would include the production of vaccines in Africa but it has been difficult without the support of the private sector.
Tedros Adhanom stated that countries within the African continent need to put in the effort to bettering the health industry’s capacity to produce the COVID-19 vaccine, curbing the problem of vaccine dissemination within Africa.
