Nigeria and five other African countries have been chosen to begin production of COVID-19 vaccines.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), in a statement on Friday, announced that other countries selected as the first recipients of technology from the WHO’s global mRNA vaccine hub are Egypt, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia.

Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, stated that these countreis were selected as the first recipients of technology from the organisation’s global mRNA vaccine hub, in a push to ensure the African continent can make its own jabs to fight COVID and other diseases.

“I was honoured to visit the Hub last week. And it’s already producing results, with Afrigen’s announcement that it has produced its own mRNA vaccine, based on publicly-available information about the composition of an existing vaccine.

“We expect clinical trials to start in the 4th quarter of this year, with approval expected in 2024. We expect the benefits of this initiative will extend far beyond #COVID19, by creating a platform for vaccines against other diseases including malaria and tuberculosis.

“WHO will work with the companies and the government in each country to develop a roadmap for training and production, based on their needs and capacities.

“Thank you all, and we look forward to working with all of you to make this project a success, for the healthier, safer and fairer Africa”, Ghebreyesus said.