Ramaphosa calls for 'African-made vaccines' against COVID-19

Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, said during a virtual conference on Monday that the African continent needs to harness COVID-19 vaccines as it lags in vaccinating against COVID-19, according to a report by CGTN Africa.

In the conference organized by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on "Africa's vaccine manufacturing" he said "Africa needs to harness its own continental capabilities and identify opportunities for collaboration across… countries," with around 2 percent of the world's total number of COVID-19 shots administered so far.

AFRICA'S VACCINE MANFACTURING VIRTUAL CONFERENCE | APRIL 12, 2021 https://t.co/HfTlzk1k1M

— Africa CDC (@AfricaCDC) April 12, 2021

He further added that some foreign countries "could offer technological expertise, financing and investment", and suggested that countries like India and Brazil could help through the development by guiding with respective generic pharmaceutical industries. He said, "we will also need capacity-building in the form of skills and knowledge transfer to ensure we can sustain local manufacturing".

The continent has been the least affected region by the pandemic in the world with over 4.35 million cases and over 115,000 deaths with an overall population of 1.2 billion, as per the latest figures from Africa CDC. But the slow vaccination process was caused due to inadequate supplies, logistical and financial problems.

Being the worst-hit country in Africa, Ramaphosa also criticized developed nations for vaccine hoggings, warning "vaccine apartheid must come to an end".

Further speaking at the conference, Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda said that "vaccine equity" cannot be guaranteed by "goodwill alone" and "Africa needs to and should be capable of producing its own vaccines and medical products".