WATCH: The first mRNA hub in SA

As Gauteng faces a third wave of Covid-19 infections, the slow pace of SA’s vaccination programme is being brought into stark — and deadly — relief. A major component of the slow rollout is access to vaccines. And although Covax has distributed almost 40-million doses to 110 countries and economies, vaccine nationalism, vaccine diplomacy and severe supply constraints have so far prevented Covax from realising its full potential.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its Covax partners are working with an SA 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-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub.

Michael Avery talks to Dr Martin Friede, co-ordinator of the Initiative for Vaccine Research at the WHO and the lead of the long-term sustainable manufacturing workstream, Covax manufacturing task force; Dr Morena Makhoana, Biovac CEO; and Dr Stavros Nicolaou, head of the health working group for B4SA (Business 4 SA) about the first mRNA hub in SA.