Six African countries selected to kick off Covid-19 jab production

The World Health Organization (WHO) has selected the first six African countries to receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines, a move aimed at ramping up production and countering vaccine inequity. Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia will gain access to technology and training to enable them to design and manufacture their own Covid jabs, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “No other event like the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that reliance on a few companies to supply global public goods is limiting, and dangerous,” said Tedros. “The best way to address health emergencies and reach universal health coverage is to significantly increase the capacity of all regions to manufacture the health products they need.”