Africa’s first Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing plant, Aspen Pharmacare based in South Africa, may close due to lack of customers, according to a statement from the plant manager on Saturday (May 7th).
The South African subsidiary of Aspen Pharmacare had concluded, at the beginning of March, with Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson), an agreement allowing it to produce and market in Africa a vaccine against Covid-19 under the Aspenovax brand.
If this project was well received in the context of Africa which faces a crying lack of vaccines to immunize the populations, the reality is that the countries of the continent are not in a hurry to place orders, therefore causing production to hang around. .
The drop in cases of virus contamination could justify this reality. In several countries, barrier measures are hardly observed anymore. And vaccination, which was poorly received by Africans, is no longer a priority.
The director of the Aspen Pharmacare facility plans to transfer about half of its Covid-19 vaccine production capacity to other products in the event that this situation, characterized by the lack of orders, persists in the next six weeks. . « If you don’t fill this short-term gap with orders, you won’t be able to keep these assets on the mainland, » he told reporters.
The head of the African Centers for Disease Surveillance and Prevention (Africa CDC), John Nkengasong, believes that a possible failure of this project would be a very bad signal for Africa, which has since aspired to develop its own vaccines against Covid. -19.
By OMA Newsletter N° 693 of 09/05/2022
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
