Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
MAINZ, GERMANY — A major maker of COVID-19 vaccines says it will ship pre-manufactured factories to African countries, so that African countries can produce their own COVID-19 vaccines. Currently, only a small fraction of Africa’s people have been vaccinated against the virus. Here are the details:
The Associated Press reports that vaccine maker BioNTech unveiled plans on Wednesday, February 16 to ship pre-manufactured COVID-19 vaccine factories to Africa.
These factories are modular units that are pre-fitted with all the equipment required to make COVID-19 vaccines.
Each factory is separated into 12 modules that are each the size of a standard shipping container.
The 12 containers will be shipped to a port nearest to the target site, where they will be placed on trucks and transported by road to the site.
There, the containers will be assembled into two separate units made up of six containers each. The first unit is where the substances are prepared.
This is where the mRNA material is produced before it is purified and concentrated.
These prepared substances are then moved to the second unit, where the substances are combined so the drug can be formulated.
The last step, where the completed product is placed into bottles, labeled and packaged — will happen in a separate factory that would be owned and operated by local partners.
BioNTech says the first factory will be shipped to either Senegal or Rwanda in the second half of this year. The company aims to start production of up to 50 million doses of vaccine a year, within the next 12 months.
SOURCES: AP, The Economist, Africanews.com
apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-europe-germany-2b228eeefb59ba253a636c03d303a2f2
amp.economist.com/science-and-technology/biontech-plans-to-make-vaccines-in-shipping-containers/21807708
investors.biontech.de/node/11586/html
africanews.com/2022/02/16/biontech-to-ship-mobile-covid-vaccine-labs-to-africa
MAINZ, GERMANY — A major maker of COVID-19 vaccines says it will ship pre-manufactured factories to African countries, so that African countries can produce their own COVID-19 vaccines. Currently, only a small fraction of Africa’s people have been vaccinated against the virus. Here are the details:
The Associated Press reports that vaccine maker BioNTech unveiled plans on Wednesday, February 16 to ship pre-manufactured COVID-19 vaccine factories to Africa.
These factories are modular units that are pre-fitted with all the equipment required to make COVID-19 vaccines.
Each factory is separated into 12 modules that are each the size of a standard shipping container.
The 12 containers will be shipped to a port nearest to the target site, where they will be placed on trucks and transported by road to the site.
There, the containers will be assembled into two separate units made up of six containers each. The first unit is where the substances are prepared.
This is where the mRNA material is produced before it is purified and concentrated.
These prepared substances are then moved to the second unit, where the substances are combined so the drug can be formulated.
The last step, where the completed product is placed into bottles, labeled and packaged — will happen in a separate factory that would be owned and operated by local partners.
BioNTech says the first factory will be shipped to either Senegal or Rwanda in the second half of this year. The company aims to start production of up to 50 million doses of vaccine a year, within the next 12 months.
SOURCES: AP, The Economist, Africanews.com
apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-europe-germany-2b228eeefb59ba253a636c03d303a2f2
amp.economist.com/science-and-technology/biontech-plans-to-make-vaccines-in-shipping-containers/21807708
investors.biontech.de/node/11586/html
africanews.com/2022/02/16/biontech-to-ship-mobile-covid-vaccine-labs-to-africa
