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As the entire world scrambles to find a vaccine for the coronavirus pandemic, most African nations have expressed their willingness to conduct a vaccine test in their homeland. Some African nations, including Ethiopia, were indicated to have the capacity to produce the vaccine once it was approved. This was revealed at a press conference given by the World Health Organization-Africa on Thursday, September 3, 2020.
According to Matshidiso Moeti (MD), WHO Regional Director for Africa, most African countries have expressed their willingness to join the WHO coronavirus initiative – covaxin. Through this initiative, countries will participate in trials to test the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing the virus.
When asked if any African nation has the capacity to manufacture the vaccine, Dr. Moeti said that some African nations such as Senegal, South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have the capacity to do so, while Ethiopia is improving its capacity. .
It should be recalled that Ethiopia had prematurely announced the discovery of an effective vaccine and treatment for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This product has successfully passed laboratory tests and is awaiting delivery of the first batch to begin clinical trials.
According to Abraham Belay (PhD), the Minister of Innovation and Technology, the laboratory test, which is being carried out abroad, took longer due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We expect delivery of the first production of the vaccine in a month and will proceed with clinical trials,” said Abraham. The reporter.
Ethiopia currently does not have a third grade laboratory, which is a certified laboratory to produce sample vaccines and perform laboratory tests, according to him. After the laboratory test, there will be an authorization to conduct clinical trials.
Abraham also said The reporter that the entire cost of developing the vaccine was covered by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) but refrained from disclosing the expenses incurred so far. He said it will be included in a report after the development of the vaccine.
While the vaccine for the pandemic, which has affected 26.3 million people worldwide, is a long-awaited discovery, it has not been without its own controversies. Some French doctors once recommended testing for the virus in Africa because there is a similar experience of doing it for HIV / AIDS. This was widely criticized by people and leaders, including the director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom (PhD).
While asked about this and what precautions would be taken not to turn Africans into guinea pigs, Pontiano Kaleebu, research director at the Uganda Research Unit, stated that there will be a strict standard to follow to ensure this never happen. He indicated that all the necessary precautions will be put in place, so that all the people who participate in the trials are willing to do so.
So far, the coronavirus has infected more than 55,213 Ethiopians out of a total of 970,591 Ethiopians who were tested for the virus. More than 20,000 have recovered and 856 people have lost their lives to the disease.
Addis Ababa remains the epicenter of the virus, while Dire Dawa, Jigjiga, Metema and Mekele take the place of the five most affected cities in Ethiopia, after Addis Ababa.
The Ethiopian government imposed a state of emergency to limit the spread of the virus, limit the gathering of people, close schools and institutions of higher education.
