Just News |
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday welcomed the announcement of a collaboration between South Africa’s Biovac Institute and the global pharmaceutical producer Pfizer as a breakthrough in the protection of African nations against COVID-19.
Biovac and Pfizer announced that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be produced in Cape Town by the Biovac Institute. Biovac is a vaccine producer and public-private partnership between the South African government and the pharmaceutical private sector.
Ramaphosa said the agreement will contribute significantly to health security and sustainability on our continent, which currently has the least access to vaccination in the world.”
Biovac has been appointed to manufacture the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for distribution within Africa, making it the first company on the continent to produce an mRNA-based vaccine.
African Union Special Envoy on COVID-19 and member of the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team Strive Masiyiwa said “the only way to guarantee Africa’s access to vaccines now and in the future is through this type of strategic manufacturing partnerships, which we welcome greatly.”
Biovac expects that the facility will be brought into the Pfizer-BioNtech supply chain by the end of 2021. Biovac will obtain drug substance from BioNTech’s facilities in Germany.
