The World Health Organization announced six African nations will receive technology needed to produce their own mRNA vaccines. The countries are Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. It’s part of a WHO initiative to expand vaccine access and decrease dependency on wealthier nations.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “More than 80% of the population of Africa has yet to receive a single dose. Much of this inequity has been driven by the fact that globally vaccine production is concentrated in a few mostly high-income countries. One of the most obvious lessons of the pandemic, therefore, is the urgent need to increase local production of vaccines, especially in low- and middle-income countries.”