Tanzania seeks to manufacture own Covid vaccines

Tanzania is looking to set up its own vaccine manufacturing plant as part of its wider plan to tackle Covid and other diseases in the country.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the country was also aiming to export vaccines to east and southern African countries, according to a statement from the state house.

She said Tanzania was likely to spend nearly $100m (£70m) by 2030 to import vaccines, hence the need to set up its own local capacity.

The president, who was visiting the European Union Council President Charles Michel in Brussels, said she was submitting a proposal for support to make the project a success.

The plan for a vaccine plant is a shift from the previous regime of her predecessor, John Magufuli, a prominent coronavirus sceptic, who died last year from heart complications.

Since Magafuli’s death in March, President Samia Suluhu Hassan has changed Tanzania’s pandemic management, joining COVAX, in order to receive free doses.