US giant Moderna announce vaccine production plans in Africa

US vaccine manufacturer Moderna has announced plans to produce mRNA vaccines in Africa.

Moderna wants to build a drug production plant that can produce, fill and package up to 500 million vaccine doses a year, the firm announced on Thursday.

Moderna is to invest 500 million dollars in the plant. The site has not yet been selected.

In August, German vaccine maker BioNTech announced it would produce malaria and tuberculosis vaccines in Africa and was looking into setting up production facilities in Rwanda and Senegal.

Clinical trials for the mRNA vaccines are to begin at the end of 2022.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are also plans for a centre for the production of mRNA vaccines in South Africa with the help of a consortium.

Until now, Africa has had to import the majority of all vaccines.