South Africa To Host Covid Vaccine Tech Transfer Hub

WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said it could take 9-12 months before COVID-19 vaccines could be produced in South Africa using tested and approved processes.

South Africa will host the continent's first COVID-19 vaccine production facility, as President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday Africa now understood that doses would "never come" from elsewhere in time to save lives. Ramaphosa joined the World Health Organization (WHO) and French President Emmanuel Macron in announcing the new hub for Messenger RNA coronavirus vaccine technology. But as the project will take time to get off the ground, no vaccines are expected from it until next year. At tech transfer hubs, the technology is established at industrial scale, while interested manufacturers can receive training and any necessary licences to the technology.