Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Senegal and Rwanda have signed an agreement with German company BioNTech for the construction of its first start-to-finish factories to make messenger RNA vaccines in Africa.
BioNTech, which developed the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, said Tuesday that construction will start in mid-2022. It is working with the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal's capital, and the Rwandan government, a statement said.
“State-of-the-art facilities like this will be life-savers and game-changers for Africa and could lead to millions of cutting-edge vaccines being made for Africans, by Africans in Africa,” said Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization's Regional Director for Africa. “This is also crucial for transferring knowledge and know-how, bringing in new jobs and skills and ultimately strengthening Africa's health security.”
Ugur Sahin, the co-founder and CEO of BioNTech, said its goal is “to develop vaccines in the African Union and to establish sustainable vaccine production capabilities to jointly improve medical care in Africa.”
BioNTech had already agreed in August to work with Rwanda and Senegal to establish facilities in Africa capable of end-to-end manufacturing of mRNA-based vaccines, under license.
The novel mRNA process uses the genetic code for the spike protein of the coronavirus and is thought to trigger a better immune response than traditional vaccines. Scientists hope the technology, which is easier to scale up than traditional vaccine methods, might ultimately be used to make vaccines against other diseases, including malaria.
BioNTech said the facility in Africa will eventually produce about 50 million doses of the vaccine per year, with the capacity to increase.
BioNTech also said it is in discussions for expanding its partnership with the South African vaccine manufacturer Biovac, which is based in Cape Town. Biovac will assemble the vaccine using ingredients provided by BioNTech, a process called fill and finish. That production will begin in 2022 with a goal of reaching more than 100 million finished doses annually.
The BioNTech announcement was criticized by Rohit Malpani, an independent public health consultant in Paris, who previously worked for Doctors Without Borders.
“This is too little too late,” said Malpani. “Nothing should have stopped BioNTech from doing this a year ago when they were building factories in the U.S. and Germany. The fact that they sat on their hands and allowed this vaccine apartheid to proliferate and have left millions of people without vaccines shows that we cannot trust these companies.”
Malpani pointed out that the agreement is to produce the vaccine under license to BioNTech.
“This may expand production, but control over the vaccines still ultimately rests in BioNTech's hands,” he said. “By the time these vaccines arrive, it will be far too late for millions of people. This does not ensure that countries will have access to vaccines or that they will be able to better respond to future pandemics.”
In contrast, Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines in Cape Town has established a lab and assembled scientists to produce an mRNA vaccine that is a replica of the Moderna vaccine, using information that is publicly available. With backing from the WHO, Afrigen plans to develop and produce an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine independent from Moderna or other big drug companies.
In July, Senegal had announced that the Institut Pasteur would manage a new manufacturing hub to produce vaccines including for COVID-19. The hub was estimated to cost $200 million and would be financed partly by funds from European and U.S. governments and institutions.
These vaccine manufacturing hubs in Africa will help reduce its dependence on imports, as the continent currently relies on imports for about 99% of its vaccine needs, according to the WHO. Africa and its 1.3 billion people remain the least-vaccinated region of the world against COVID-19, with just over 5% fully vaccinated, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
------
AP journalist Maria Cheng in London contributed.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
The United Nations food agency warned Sudan's warring parties Friday that there is a serious risk of widespread starvation and death in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan if they don't allow humanitarian aid into the vast western region.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.