Six African countries to receive mRNA vaccine technology
Source: Associated Press
Six African countries to receive mRNA vaccine technology
By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
February 18, 2022
BRUSSELS (AP) — The first African countries selected to receive the technology necessary to produce mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 are Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia, a summit meeting of European Union and African Union nations heard on Friday.
The six countries have been chosen to build vaccine production factories as part of a bid the World Health Organization launched last year to replicate what are believed to be the most effective licensed shots against COVID-19.
Africa currently produces just 1% of coronavirus vaccines. According to WHO figures, only 11% of the population in Africa is fully vaccinated, compared with the global average of about 50%.
WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the Brussels summit meeting that although more than 10 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered globally, billions of people still remain unvaccinated.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-technology-business-health-africa-65a9f85a59962f96cdef1701c931009d
From left, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of Senegal Macky Sall, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta and President of Tunisia Kais Saied pose on the podium after addressing a media conference at an EU Africa summit in Brussels, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. European Union leaders on Thursday lauded the bloc's vaccine cooperation with Africa in the fight against the coronavirus, but there was no sign they would move toward a temporary lifting of intellectual property rights protection for COVID-19 shots. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)
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