Africa's first Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing plant risks closing due to a complete lack of orders.
Last November, the South African company Aspe Pharmacare negotiated a licensing agreement to package and sell the John & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine and distribute it in Africa.
However, while African countries initially faced logistical problems with the distribution of the first Covid vaccines, including a lack of qualified personnel, cold chain issues, and other problems related to vaccine distribution, donor countries have since paid and the continent is now well supplied.
According to the latest figures published by the World Health Organization, only one-sixth of fully vaccinated African adults were vaccinated by the end of March.
South Africa, which has vaccinated 30% of its population, appears to be on the verge of experiencing a fifth wave of infections.
Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen's senior director, said that if no vaccine orders were placed, there would be little reason to keep the production lines used to produce and potentially sell Aspenovax, Aspen's branded COVID-19 vaccine.
