Moderna plans to expand the Kenya factory beyond COVID vaccines

Despite a global oversupply of coronavirus immunizations, the government now argues that Moderna's Sh57.5 billion vaccine plant will be important in the fight against other diseases other than the COVID-19 pandemic.

There has been a reported global vaccination oversupply, raising concerns about the practicality of the COVID-19 facilities in the pipeline.

Mutahi Kagwe, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Health, stated that Moderna and other vaccine manufacturers in the country would be producing several other items. As a result, a surplus of COVID-19 vaccinations will not disrupt construction schedules.

"They'll develop vaccines, and not just COVID ones," Mr. Kagwe told Business Day in an interview.

According to Mr. Kagwe, an overstock of COVID-19 immunizations, does not jeopardize Kenya's and Africa's plans to construct vaccine facilities. "We don't see that happening," he remarked.

According to Moderna, which revealed its plans for the Kenyan vaccine manufacturing facility earlier this month, more than 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines will be supplied to Africa each year.

Following the agreement with the Kenyan government, the American biotechnology behemoth expects to begin filling doses of its Covid vaccine in Africa as early as 2023.

"Rather than being particular to Covid-19, the plant is anticipated to be appropriate for mRNA therapies and vaccines," Moderna told Business Daily on Friday.

Moderna has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Kenyan government to create mRNA vaccines, including but not limited to Covid-19, according to an email from Moderna.

Moderna has created numerous more vaccines, including those for RSV and HIV, as part of its study into molecularly encoded antigens.

Vaccine manufacturers have made significant investments in production capacity over the last year, with some of it coming online only after most countries have vaccinated the majority of their citizens with two doses.

Except in China and Hong Kong, where Covid Zero is widely used, observers argue that the global adjustment to living with the virus has reduced the requirement for booster doses.

Due to a global supply glut of Covid injections, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, the Institute of India Ltd (IIL), announced last month that it has ceased manufacturing new batches.

An Indian company manufactures the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University, as well as the Novavax Inc. injectable.

Several African countries have relaxed pandemic-related restrictions, masks and quarantine procedures, despite an increase in disease cases elsewhere in the world.

Kenya has purchased vaccination doses from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson to boost the Astrazeneca vaccines for 27.8 million Kenyans.

The reduction of the Covid-19 limit has hampered vaccination attempts. Kenya has chosen to halt its Covid-19 measures, including the wearing of face masks in public, after months of maintaining a case rate of less than 1%.