The first COVID-19 vaccine plant based in Africa is at risk of closure because it is yet to secure any orders.

The vaccine plant, based in Gqeberha, South Africa, is a joint venture with a local drug production company, Aspen Pharmacare, and American multinational healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson.

The agreement between the two companies was finalised in March this year. The African plant was required to package, sell and distribute Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines around the continent under its own brand, Aspenovax.

However, production has been halted for the past month due to the lack of demand, which has put its future in doubt and jeopardised efforts to build a homegrown vaccine industry on the continent.

According to the WHO, the African region is lagging in vaccination roll out with only 10.2% of its population fully vaccinated, compared to 55.5% globally. Initially, the low vaccination coverage was due to insufficient availability of vaccines on the continent. Now, it seems that the low vaccination rate appears to be the consequence of insufficient vaccine demand, due to the poor initial rollout. Furthermore, other reported issues that have caused a lack of demand include the lack of funds, lack of trained professionals and hesitancy among the population to get the vaccine. 

Aspen Pharmacare’s senior director, Stavros Nicolaou, said that keeping the production line open for its Aspenovax vaccine may not make economic sense considering that there have not been any orders for sale directly in Africa.

John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), has appealed to African countries to place orders with the continental manufacturer, and has started to create strategies to raise demand for vaccines.

The Aspenovax manufacturers are also appealing to African governments for clear commitments within weeks, or it will recommit its production line to more in-demand anaesthetics.