Shipping containers are set to be repurposed to become Covid vaccine factories. Germany’s BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer to develop the first mRNA vaccine against the coronavirus, unveiled yesterday its new BioNTainers, containerised mRNA factories, with the first batch destined for Africa later this year.
The mobile labs feature 12 containers which produce mRNA and the vaccine serum.
Attendees at the unveiling of the BioNTainers yesterday included President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Rwandan president Kagame commented: “BioNTech’s innovative modular production system opens up a new horizon for global vaccine equity.”
