Tunisia among 1st African countries to produce mRNA vaccines under WHO scheme

TUNIS, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia has been selected as one of the first six African countries to receive the technology needed to produce their own mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines under a scheme led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Tunisian Health Ministry said Friday.

Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa are the five other African countries to join the WHO scheme, the ministry said in a statement.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the decision on the sidelines of the sixth European Union-African Union (EU-AU) summit held in Brussels on Feb. 17-18, it added.

In 2021, the WHO created the COVID-19 technology transfer hub for mRNA vaccines in the hope of increasing the production of vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.