Popular Press
A South African Company Addresses Vaccine Supply Inequity, Despite Canada’s Lack of Support
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
Document Type
News Article
Publication Date
1-1-2022
Keywords
- COVID-19,
- Coronavirus,
- South Africa,
- Moderna,
- COVID-19 Vaccines,
- Public Health,
- Knowledge Sharing,
- Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine,
- Health Care Access,
- Vaccination Access,
- Supply Inequity,
- Canada,
- Global South
Disciplines
Abstract
Since late 2020, the inequitable access across the globe to COVID-19 vaccines has been a glaring problem. But a remarkable achievement earlier this month offers hope that the supply of vaccines to developing countries will improve: Afrigen Biologics, a South African based company, produced its own version of Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. This was achieved with no support from Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, the manufacturer of the other mRNA vaccine.
What many don’t realize is that two Canadian companies control a key component of the mRNA vaccines. Busy fighting over their lucrative patent rights, there is no sign they shared their technology with Afrigen either.
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International
Citation Information
Matthew Herder & E Richard Gold, "A South African Company Addresses Vaccine Supply Inequity, Despite Canada’s Lack of Support", The Conversation (28 February 2022), online: < theconversation.com > [perma.cc/X5RN-HVV7].