Vaccines made in South Africa to stay in Africa, says envoy

Vaccine doses produced by a plant in South Africa will no longer be exported to Europe following the intervention of South Africa’s government, the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccine envoy said Thursday. South African drug manufacturer Aspen Pharmacare, which has a contract with Johnson & Johnson to assemble the ingredients of its COVID-19 vaccine, will produce for the African continent and millions of doses that had been shipped to European countries but remain in warehouses will be returned, Strive Masiyiwa told reporters. J&J doses produced in South Africa “will stay in Africa and will be distributed in Africa,” he said