Six mobile vaccine production equipment from the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech arrived in Rwanda on Monday, the first such exports to the continent as the continent attempts to increase mRNA vaccine production.
The recycled shipping container modules arrived in Kigali, where they will be assembled to form a vaccine production centre for vaccines against a number of illnesses.
“This is a historic moment,” said BioNTech’s chief operating officer Sierk Poetting.
The Covid-19 outbreak highlighted Africa’s reliance on foreign vaccinations.
According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than half of the continent’s 1.2 billion individuals are fully immunized against Covid-19 (CDC).
The Kigali plant, which can produce up to 100 million mRNA vaccines per year, will take at least 12 months to begin producing doses.
“The technology is scalable… It is also flexible so you can move it anywhere,” said Poetting, without providing details on the overall cost of the project.
The containers, dubbed BioNTainer, will also pioneer treatments in the development phase against diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV that are among the leading killers in Africa.
“We are also thinking of cancer therapies that we are developing to be produced in these BioNTainers,” said Poetting.
BioNTech said it had employed nine local scientists, with a plan to increase staffing to at least 100 by next year and eventually have local employees run the facility.
Rwanda will distribute the vaccines to the 55-member African Union bloc.
“This shows the power of science, partnerships and humanity, what people can do to fight a terrifying pandemic,” Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana said.
Rwanda’s facility is the first of three slated for Africa with deliveries planned for South Africa and Senegal, according to BioNTech.
