Background
South Africa’s decision to build vaccine-producing factories was due to several reasons. The first one was the evident challenges the continent encountered in accessing COVID-19 vaccines, having among the lowest vaccinated populations globally while the virus continued to spread (Erman et al., 2021). This can be seen from the presented statistics that reported Africa has an estimated only 20 Million people vaccinated compared to the USA, where there were over 135 million in March 2021 (Erman et al., 2021). This gap presented the urgent need for localized vaccine production to meet the demand within the region. Even though Pfizer set out to do the fill and finish process in the country, which are the last steps in the vaccine development, it would mark a journey that eventually results in Biovac being allowed to make the vaccine long-term (Erman et al., 2021).
On the same note, the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa and delayed and unpredictable delivery schedules were more reasons for the need for local manufacturing to meet the continent’s needs. We can see this in the article by Pfizer (2020), which discusses the necessity of scaling vaccine production in Africa to ensure timely and dependable access to vaccines. This would have demonstrated the country’s contribution to global efforts to deal with vaccine inequity.
Secondly, South Africa decided to collaborate with Pfizer to maintain the existing partnership and enhance its ability to respond to pandemics and other health emergencies. One such longstanding partnership is between Biovac and Pfizer, where Biovac has been working with Pfizer since 2015 to manufacture and distribute the Prevnar 13 vaccine (Pfizer, 2022). This existing relationship indicates a foundation of trust and reliability that contributed to Pfizer’s decision to pick Biovac as a partner for COVID-19 vaccine production. Along the same lines, this relationship was to help facilitate technology transfer and positioned Biovac and the country as significant contributors in processing and distributing COVID-19 vaccines.
The article by Lamptey et al. (2022) indicates that South Africa is the leader in vaccine production in Africa. The decision to allow for the building of a vaccine manufacturing facility in South Africa was because the country aspired to maintain the said regional healthcare leadership. More so, the recent endorsement by the World Health Organization acknowledging Biovac as a tech transfer hub is evidence of their trust and confidence in Biovac’s ability to adhere to regulatory requirements and produce safe COVID-19 vaccines (Erman et al., 2021). This further shows its capability and commitment to be at the front of healthcare in the region, ensuring equitable access to vaccines across Africa.
Lastly, South Africa foresaw an opportunity for economic growth. These include job creation through industrial development. These include the research field and transportation to supply the vaccine. For instance, the European Investment Bank’s funding of Biovac’s Cape Town plant is evidence of the economic significance of such programs (European Investment Bank, 2022). Therefore, the country saw benefits from these and other such funding through economic expansion through healthcare infrastructure investment. The last reason South Africa decided to house Pfizer’s vaccine factories was to showcase its commitment to global health diplomacy and cooperation. South Africa’s willingness to collaborate with this organization was to demonstrate its willingness to collaborate with international stakeholders to address one of the most problematic pandemics, earning it recognition in the global healthcare world.
References
Erman, M., Roelf, W., & Winning, A. (2021). Reuters.com. reuters.com. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizerbiontech-strike-south-africa-covid-19-manufacturing-deal-with-biovac-2021-07-21/
European Investment Bank. (2022, June 8). South Africa: EIB to Support Increased Vaccine Production by Biovac. https://www.eib.org/en/press/all/2022-263-eib-to-support-increased-vaccine-production-in-south-africa-by-biovac
Lamptey, E., Senkyire, E. K., Benita, D. A., & Boakye, E. O. (2022). COVID-19 vaccines development in Africa: A review of current situation and existing challenges of vaccine production. Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research, 11(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.7774/cevr.2022.11.1.82
Pfizer. (2021). Pfizer and BioNTech Announce Collaboration with Biovac to Manufacture and Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine Doses within Africa | Pfizer. Pfizer: One of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies. https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-collaboration-biovac
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