African leaders have called on the organisation in charge of procurement for the Covax vaccine sharing scheme to commit to buying at least 30 per cent of all Covid-19 jabs produced on the continent, as the future of Africa’s biggest manufacturing facility hangs in the balance.
Covid-19 vaccine production at the Aspen Pharmacare facility in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, ground to a halt in late March because of a drop-off in demand, putting its future in doubt and threatening to undermine African Union plans to increase local jab production.
Earlier in the pandemic, Africa struggled to obtain doses when supply was squeezed. But in recent months several vaccine makers have cut jab sales forecasts for 2022, citing an oversupply of shots and vaccine hesitancy in less vaccinated regions, such as Africa.