Why vaccine independence is so important for Africa

AuthorCatherine Jewell
PositionInformation and Digital Outreach Division, WIPO

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgent need to build capacity in Africa to develop and manufacture much-needed vaccines. (Photo: Adene Sanchez / E+ / Getty Images)

Why is it important for Africa to focus on vaccine development and manufacture?

During COVID, we saw that Africa was at the back of the queue, in spite of initiatives like COVAX, which fell short of expectations for multiple reasons. The best way to secure supply is to make it yourself. Then you have full control and can determine when and how much you are going to make and the markets you are going to supply.

Another important consideration is the need for a more diversified global vaccine supply chain so we are not overly dependent on Europe, India and the USA and thereby exposed to the risk that they will clamp down on vaccine exports. Those are the key reasons for building vaccine-manufacturing capacity in Africa.

What will it take to develop a sustainable vaccine-manufacturing ecosystem in Africa?

The question is, why hasn't it already happened? AVMI has been trumpeting the need to build vaccine production capacity in Africa for some time. The challenge goes beyond getting goods at a competitive price. It's more about the resilience of our health systems. Governments always have to manage competing priorities and while they don't deny that pandemics occur, they're not easily convinced that they're an immediate threat. And we know the answer to that!

In Africa, prior to the pandemic, the supply of routine vaccines for infant immunization was secure. GAVI and UNICEF have taken care of this exceptionally well, such that 60 percent of UNICEF's vaccine doses come into Africa. But during the pandemic, the vulnerability of depending exclusively on external sources of supply for COVID-19 vaccines came into full focus.

Accelerated access to know how is what shifts the needle in terms of building vaccine production capacity.

China, Europe, India and the USA were well positioned to respond to the pandemic and to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, because they had warm facilities churning out routine vaccines on a daily basis. With the operational facilities, the workforce, the quality and regulatory approval systems in place, they could repurpose and scale-up their operations to produce COVID-19 vaccines relatively easily. Therein lies the conundrum. Without building the capacity for routine vaccine production, you will never be ready for pandemics. That's why we need to build a sustainable vaccine manufacturing ecosystem in Africa for routine vaccines.

So, is there a need to change existing vaccine procurement systems in Africa?

Yes, definitely. It comes down to simple economics. For a company to be sustainable, it needs to make a profit to cover overheads and continue operating. And to generate a profit, it needs to sell product and to sell product it needs a market. Currently, less than one...

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