It is one of the themes at the center of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s visit to Senegal earlier this week: the production of vaccines in Africa. This follows a recent announcement by German firm BioNTech about upcoming shipments of mobile production units to several countries: Rwanda, Senegal and possibly even South Africa.

The issue of vaccine production on the continent was also discussed at the summit between the European Union and the African Union last week.

The United Nations has officially announced the opening of production units in six African countries. South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia are concerned. This means that we will produce messenger RNA vaccine against Kovid-19 in these countries.

“We don’t want pieces”

The European Union talks about technology transfer. People will be trained on site for the production of vaccines. The first steps were taken on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea. But for some it is not enough.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for the complete removal of patents for COVID-19 vaccines. To put it simply, the step after the transfer of technology will be the last step.

,In my opinion, when we are facing a pandemic like this, what we get out of it should be considered for the good of the public.” Cyril repeats Ramaphosa in an interview with Deutsche Welle. He had expressed himself in the same sense in the past as well. ,It should not be seen as a profitable means or product. It should be readily available. We don’t want to get crumbs.,

“Protect Research”

But the topic is still blocked, despite discussions at the AU-EU summit last week. The European Union opposes this. Like in Germany, the headquarters of BioNTech. The position defended on DW’s microphone by the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation, Svenja Schultz.

,Those who want to remove the patent want to start production in Africa as soon as possible. But there are actually two ways to do this: you can do it in confrontation or collaboration with companies”, She spreads. ,Personally, I think we should choose the fastest way, that is, to cooperate. A messenger RNA vaccine requires 50,000 steps in quality assurance. For this you need very well trained people, know-how.,

Arguments raised and developed by the European Union that insist: Intellectual property must be protected so that construction can continue. In other words, it means that if the patent is taken away, companies will make less money and no longer invest in research.

Without giving an exact date, the European Union and the African Union ensure that discussions on the subject do not stop. And talk about a meeting in the spring on this matter.

Meanwhile, in addition to setting up manufacturing units, the European Union has also promised more doses by summer to speed up vaccination campaigns.

Europe will also raise 425 million euros to accelerate vaccination campaigns, by supporting the distribution of doses and the training of medical teams.

For now, more than 11% of the population in the African continent has been vaccinated.