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September 15, 2021

Andrew Campbell 

At a press conference in Africa on COVID-19 and vaccine equity on September 14, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and a group of global health leaders issued an urgent call for vaccine equity around the world, but especially in Africa. The world leaders emphasized that the worst pandemic in a century will not be over until there is genuine global cooperation on vaccine supply and access. Vaccine inequity, according to Mr. Ghebreyesus, is a problem that can be solved.

The WHO has been attempting to persuade Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech to collaborate with its African technology transfer hub. Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, on the other hand, signed a separate agreement in July with South Africa's Biovac to help manufacture approximately 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine for Africa. Their shot, like Moderna's, is powered by mRNA technology.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies have objected to the idea, claiming that due to the complexity of the manufacturing process, any technology transfer must be overseen by them. Global health leaders also reaffirmed the World Health Organization's target of vaccinating 70% of the world's population by mid-2022.