by JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Researchers and scientists in South Africa launched clinical trials Tuesday of the first domestically developed vaccine.
The oral cholera vaccine, developed by Cape Town-based pharmaceutical company Biovac, is currently being tested to determine its safety in adults. Tests will then be conducted to compare it with existing cholera vaccines already on the market.
Depending on the results, the vaccine could be approved and ready for use in Africa by 2028, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said.
The vaccine’s development has been hailed as a significant milestone for access to vaccines in the country and the rest of the continent.
Motsoaledi said that while South Africa had relatively low cholera rates, many countries in Africa that were frequently hit by outbreaks would benefit greatly. He said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable African countries are to pandemics as they rely on imported vaccines.
Cholera outbreaks occur frequently in South Africa due to cross-border migration. Other causes include the lack of clean water in communities such as Hammanskraal in the capital Pretoria, where the supply of clean water remains a major problem.
A cholera outbreak in 2023 resulted in the deaths of 47 people and over 1,400 reported cases, but neighboring countries such as Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe have seen far more cases and deaths.
“If we can research, develop and manufacture vaccines locally, we reduce our vulnerability to supply chain disruptions, geopolitical pressures, international market competition and vaccine nationalism that was evident at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Motsoaledi said.
The trials are taking place in the provinces of Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where cholera cases have already been reported.
“This development addresses a critical, life-saving need amid ongoing global vaccine shortages amid recurring cholera outbreaks,” said Morena Makhoana, CEO of Biovac.
Lerato Maleka, 44, one of the first participants in the clinical trial, said she signed up because of South Africa’s water problems.
“I didn’t have cholera, but we know that sometimes there is no water supply and people in Hammanskraal died of cholera because they drank water, so I wanted to be safe from that,” Maleka said.
She said although there has never been an outbreak where she lives in Diepkloof, Soweto, the tap water often has to be boiled because it is not clean.
Shadrack Makutu, 37, a resident of Limpopo Province, is another participant who has previously experienced an outbreak in his village of Bushbuckridge.
“I know people who share water with animals, so I know some people who are affected by this cholera,” Makutu said.
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 4 million people worldwide are affected by cholera each year and between 21,000 and 143,000 people die from it each year.
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