Human trials for a potential novel coronavirus vaccine have already begun in Africa, more specifically in Egypt and South Africa.

A consortium for Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials is to be led by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The consortium was launched by the African Union Commission, which aims to obtain more than ten trials as soon as possible.

The BBC reports that global vaccine developers, financiers, and African organisations that assist with clinical trials are to work together to ensure that sufficient data on the ‘effects of vaccine candidates on the African population is generated’.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is the current AU chairperson, said, “”Success in developing and providing access to a safe vaccine requires an innovative and collaborative approach, with significant local manufacturing in Africa.”

The AU Commission said that rolling out a vaccine in Africa was central to limiting the transmission of the coronavirus and preventing deaths. It said that developing a vaccine would lay the foundation for socio-economic recovery that would set Africa’s ‘integration’ agenda back on course.

Umm Muhammed Umar