Mirindi Johnson/UNICEF

Rachel, 7, sits outside the UNICEF-supported cholera treatment centre in Kihumba, Idjwi health zone, South Kivu province, DR Congo, on 1 May 2025.

South Africa has reached a historic milestone after Biovac received approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to begin clinical trials for the country’s first fully manufactured oral cholera vaccine.

The approval positions South Africa as the only nation in Africa capable of producing the life-saving vaccine entirely in-house. Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi praised the development as a breakthrough for national health security and Africa’s self-reliance in vaccine production.

The vaccine trial, which is funded by the Gates Foundation, Open Philanthropy, the Wellcome Trust, and others, began at Wits University’s Perinatal HIV Research Unit in October 2025. The African Union (AU) has set a target for 60% of all routine vaccines used in Africa to be manufactured on the continent by 2030, a major advancement from today’s level of less than 1%.