Equally important, are demand-side considerations, which are complicated by the fact a large proportion of the vaccine supply that flows into the continent is funded through donor initiatives spearheaded by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
South Africa’s Biovac Institute was established in 2003 as a public-private partnership to respond to the need for vaccine manufacturing capabilities. Its core business is the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) in South Africa and parts of Southern Africa.
“In global terms when you look at what does it take from a funding perspective, we are estimating anywhere between R3bn-R5bn ($201m-$336m) to come with a facility that would be fully fledged and which would have the required large capacity: over 1bn doses could be produced out of a facility
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