The coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire world, and some countries are struggling more than others are. The WHO and other health organisations have stated the importance of vaccine availability across the globe. There are many countries that do not have easy access to COVID-19 vaccines, and the pandemic is affecting their health systems.
A recent article mentions the inequalities across the globe: Gibraltar has vaccinated 100% of its population, while countries with less monetary resources have just begun the vaccination campaign and have only offered vaccines to health providers. If South Africa starts producing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, then the African continent could have faster vaccination campaigns and easier access.
South Africa to produce the Pfizer vaccine in 2022
Sources state that the announcement was made yesterday and that the doses resulted in South Africa will be for African countries. This way, the logistics involved in transporting the Pfizer vaccine will be easier to handle. The statement also mentioned that the goal is for the companies to produce at least 100 million doses, and the technology will be transferred to the Biovac Institute in Cape Town. The raw material will be sent from Europe, and the Biovac Institute will provide the equipment and the manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine.
How is the vaccination campaign in the African continent?
The numbers cited show that just 74.141.910 doses have been administered in 51 countries of this continent. This means that the vaccination campaign is extremely slow considering the fact that only over 20 million people received both doses and the population of the African continent is over 1.3 billion. Many countries have already started to donate COVID-19 vaccines, including the U.S. There are also countries where people are still hesitant and do not wish to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
