(Reuters) – Germany’s BioNTech said on Wednesday it has completed construction of its first vaccine factory made from shipping containers called ‘BioNtrainer’ being sent to Africa.
The COVID-19 vaccine maker said the BioNtrainer is expected to arrive in Kigali, Rwanda in the first quarter of 2023.
In February, the company planned to develop a vaccine factory using shipping containers and send it to Africa as assembly kits to ease what the World Health Organization has described as huge disparities in global COVID-19 vaccine access.
BioNtech said the facility at Kigali will house the first BioNtrainer, which is expected to become part of a wider supply network spanning several African nations that will have access to the mRNA-based vaccine.
(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
