Why Kenya still lags behind South Africa in vaccine research

KEMRI Lab scientist Dr. Samson Limbaso works on coronavirus samples obtained from the public at the Sample Management and Reception facility in Nairobi on March 24, 2020. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

South Africa stood tall with the discovery of Beta and Omicron variants of Covid-19 last year, largely credited to its advanced genomic sequencing which detects new variants faster.

While Kenya is currently the largest exporter of vaccine syringes and is gearing up to open a vaccine factory this year, it lags behind countries like South Africa in vaccine research.