The mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine produced at the World Health Organisation-backed vaccine hub in South Africa could take up to three years to get approval if companies do not share their technology and data, a WHO official said.

The WHO-backed tech transfer hub in South Africa was set up in June to give poorer nations the know-how to produce Covid-19 vaccines, after market leaders of the mRNA vaccine, Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna, declined a WHO request to share their technology and expertise.

Martin Friede, coordinator of the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research, said if companies with approved vaccines or late-stage clinical data shared their technology and data with the consortium, the vaccine produced in South Africa could be approved in 12 to 18 months, Reuters reports.