Moderna, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology firm based in the United States has put on hold plans to construct a vaccine manufacturing facility in Kenya.
This is after the company allegedly announced a significant decline in the uptake of its Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) drugs.
According to the company, it has not received any vaccine orders from Africa since 2022 signifying the drop in vaccine uptake over the years.
Mordena noted it had made more than Ksh129.99 billion ($1 billion) in losses following the cancellation of previous orders made by African countries.
In 2022, the company revealed plans to construct a Ksh65 billion ($500 million) plant in Kenya after reaching an agreement with the Kenyan government.
Following the agreement with the government, Moderna was to acquire a 5 to 10-acre piece of land in the Tatu City Economic Zone.
However, the Tourism Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, while previously serving at the Foreign Affairs docket and who helped broker the deal, noted the deal was not dead and was just put on hold.
Reports further suggest Tatu City officials were expecting payment from Moderna for the plot of land last year but that is yet to take place.
The latest development follows the recent reports made by the Ministry of Health dismissing the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in the country.
According to Health director-general Patrick Amoth, the Ministry of Health had been monitoring COVID-19 cases since last year December with a focus on the new variant but there was no significant increase in the cases.
Amoth stated that the Ministry of Health put a robust surveillance system to monitor the emergence and spread of flu and other pathogens of national, regional, and global concern.
“None of these sites has reported an increase in the numbers of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) but increased cases of influenza have been reported,” the Ministry noted in a statement.
