The World Health Organization says it is setting up a hub in South Africa to give companies from poor and middle-income countries the know-how and licences to produce COVID-19 vaccines, in what President Cyril Ramaphosa called a historic step to spread lifesaving technology.
The WHO says the tech transfer hub could make it possible for African companies to begin manufacturing mRNA vaccines in as little as nine to 12 months.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement aimed at boosting access to vaccines across the African continent, where coronavirus infections and deaths increased by almost 40 per cent over the past week.