JOHANNESBURG — Researchers and scientists in South Africa on Tuesday launched clinical trials on the first domestically developed vaccine.

The oral cholera vaccine, developed by the Cape Town-based pharmaceutical firm Biovac, is currently undergoing trials to determine its safety in adults and will be followed by trials to compare it to existing cholera vaccines that are already in 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 development of the vaccine has been praised as a significant milestone for vaccine access in the country and across the rest of the continent.

Motsoaledi said that while South Africa experienced relatively low levels of cholera, many countries in Africa often hit hard by outbreaks would greatly benefit. He said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how vulnerable African countries were to pandemics as they relied on imported vaccines.

South Africa often experiences cholera outbreaks due to cross-border movements. Other causes includes a lack of clean water in communities such as Hammanskraal, in the capital Pretoria, where provision of clean water remains a major problem.

A cholera outbreak in 2023 led to the death of 47 people and over 1,400 reported cases, but neighboring countries like Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe have experienced far higher cases and deaths.

“When we can research, develop and manufacture vaccines locally, we reduce our vulnerability to supply chain disruptions, geopolitical pressures, international market competition and vaccine nationalism, which was apparent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Motsoaledi.

The trials are being held in the provinces of Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where cholera cases have previously been reported.

“This development addresses a critical, life-saving need, given the ongoing global shortages of the vaccine amid recurring cholera outbreaks,” said Biovac CEO Morena Makhoana.

Lerato Maleka, 44, who is one of the first participants in the clinical trial, said she enrolled because of the water issues in South Africa.

“I haven’t had cholera, but we know that sometimes they don’t maintain water and people died in Hammanskraal from cholera by drinking water, so I wanted to be safe from that,” said Maleka.

She said even though there had never been an outbreak where she lives in Diepkloof, Soweto, they often had to boil tap water as it was not clean.

Shadrack Makutu, 37, a resident from Limpopo province, is another participants who has previously experienced an outbreak in his village of Bushbuckridge.

“I do know people who share water with animals, so I know a few people who have been affected by this cholera,” said Makutu.

The World Health Organization estimates that as many as 4 million people around the world are affected by cholera every year, with between 21,000 and 143,000 people dying from it annually.

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