Kenyan President William Ruto said on February 18 that the African Union (AU) is determined to achieve the goal that by 2040, 60% of vaccines used in Africa will be produced within the bloc.
According to a Vietnam News Agency reporter reporting from Africa, speaking while attending a conference on vaccine production in Africa organized by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, President Ruto emphasized that African countries Africa needs to produce vaccines to help prevent various pandemics.
President Ruto assessed that most African countries were severely affected, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic raging globally, and the demand for COVID-19 vaccines in the region increased.
He expressed: “The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dire situation of the pharmaceutical production industry in Africa, including vaccines. We were the last continent to have access to COVID-19 vaccines and have suffered greatly from ‘vaccine nationalism’.”
