
The first mRNA Hub in South Africa
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As Gauteng faces a third wave of covid infections that is starting to resemble a tsunami the slow pace of the country's vaccine rollout is brought into sharp and deadly relief. A major component of the slow rollout hinges on vaccine access. And although COVAX has distributed almost 40 million doses of vaccine to 110 countries and economies, vaccine nationalism, vaccine diplomacy and severe supply constraints have so far prevented COVAX from realizing its full potential. The World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners are working with a South African consortium comprising Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish its first COVID mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub. Michael Avery talks to Dr Martin Friede, Coordinator of the Initiative for Vaccine Research, WHO and the lead of the Long-Term Sustainable Manufacturing Workstream, COVAX Manufacturing Taskforce; Dr Morena Makhoana, Biovac CEO and Dr Stavros Nicolaou, head of the health working group for B4SA (Business 4 South Africa) about the first mRNA Hub in South Africa.