Six African countries will receive mRNA vaccine technology

The first African countries selected to receive the technology necessary to produce mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 are Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia, a summit meeting of European Union and African Union nations heard on Friday.

The six countries will receive the technology from the World Health Organization's global mRNA vaccine hub based in South Africa, with the aim to help them start producing vaccines as soon as possible.

In a bid to help poor countries to produce their own vaccine, the World Health Organization last year teamed up with local companies and scientists to replicate the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine.