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Rwanda has received six mobile vaccine-production units developed by the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech. The units, made from recycled shipping containers, after assembling, will serve as a vaccine production hub for jabs against several illnesses.
Rwanda has received six mobile vaccine-production units developed by the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech. The units, made from recycled shipping containers, after assembling, will serve as a vaccine production hub for jabs against several illnesses. The containers, dubbed BioNTainers, will play a key role in the development phase against diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV which are among the leading killers in Africa. Cancer therapies are also planned to be developed to be produced in these BioNTainers.
BioNTech’s chief operating officer Sierk Poetting termed it as a historical move as this is the first such shipment to Africa which is expected to boost local production of mRNA vaccines. The scalable and flexible technology enables it to be moved anywhere. The facility in Kigali has the capacity of producing up to 100 million mRNA vaccines per year and is expected to go into production in a year. Rwanda will act as a hub for vaccine production and will be able to distribute the vaccines to the 55-member African Union bloc.
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