The World Bank has announced a financing package for the production of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine in South Africa, according to a statement issued by the global financial institution on Wednesday.
The Washington-based institution approved operations to support vaccine rollout in 51 countries amounting to $4.4 billion.
The move comes as part of an effort to scale global production and meet demand for billions of doses.
According to a Bloomberg report, the $712-million deal will support Aspen Pharmacare Holdings in producing 500 million doses of the shots through 2022.
Of that amount, 30 million will be produced for use in South Africa in 2021, out of a total of 250 million due by the end of the year, writes Bloomberg.
The report further reveals that J&J will provide the drug substance, which is the main ingredient, and Aspen, which is based in Durban, will conduct the fill-finish process, or the last stage in production, the officials said.
According to Gayle Smith, who is coordinating the US State Department’s global vaccine strategy, this means greater availability of vaccine supply, produced in Africa for Africa, Bloomberg reports.
Smith also says that in the medium-long term, it also means increased capacity for the continent to produce other types of vaccines.
In April, at the initial Covid-19 response phase, the World Bank’s board of executive directors approved a $6 -billion global Covid-19 Response Programme.
African finance ministers and the World Bank Group met recently to fast-track vaccine acquisition on the continent and avoid a third wave, which has already landed on the continent.
Furthermore, in a boost to the African Union’s target to vaccinate 60% of the continent’s population by 2022, the World Bank and the African Union announced that they were partnering to support the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (Avatt) initiative.
“The World Bank is very pleased to support African countries through this partnership with the African Union to quickly provide hundreds of millions of doses,” said World Bank Group president David Malpass.
This recent shot in the arm by the World Bank follows the announcement just over a week ago that the World Health Organization and its Covax partners are working with a South African consortium comprising Biovac, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a network of universities, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to establish its first Covid-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that Covid-19 had highlighted the importance of local production to address health emergencies, strengthen regional health security, and expand sustainable access to health products. - African News Agency
