BioNTech, which discovered and co-produced the MDNA vaccine with Pfizer, has announced that it is building vaccine production facilities in Rwanda and Senegal. According to The Conversation, the plan involves “the construction in Germany of a containerised manufacturing unit that will then be installed in Rwanda, shortening the construction period for a vaccine facility by at least a year and lowering the risk of delays. Initially, the facility will be managed and operated by BioNTech staff. But the ownership and expertise will be transferred over time to local operations. At present, such expertise does not exist in Rwanda and, based on the experience of Biovac in South Africa, could take a decade to develop.”
This will be the first time an active ingredient for a COVID-19 vaccine will be produced in Africa.
As of September, only 60 million of the total African population of 1.22 billion have been vaccinated, about 5%. The Conversation reports that the shortfall of many tens of millions of doses in the market is not expected to be overcome before mid-2022 at the earliest.
