Michael Gwarisa
In a move expected to reshape the regional HIV response, South Africa has become the second country in sub-Saharan Africa after Zimbabwe to launch trials of a locally developed HIV vaccine.
The vaccine trials, which were first launched in Zimbabwe in August 2025, will be conducted at three sites: the Mutala Trust Clinical Trial Site in Harare, the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation in Cape Town, and the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban.
In the same vein, the South African trial, launched in Cape Town at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation based at Groote Schuur Hospital, is the first human HIV vaccine study to be designed and led entirely by African scientists.
In South Africa, APA news reports that twenty HIV-negative volunteers have already been enrolled to help researchers assess the vaccine’s safety and its ability to trigger an immune response.
The initiative is being driven by the South African Medical Research Council, the Wits Health Consortium, and the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation under the BRILLIANT Consortium.
Health experts say the trial represents a major scientific and symbolic milestone for a continent that continues to carry the heaviest burden of the HIV epidemic.
In Zimbabwe, participants enrolled under the IAVI C114 trial will receive either one or two doses of the investigational vaccine or a placebo. They will be followed for 19 months to assess safety and the strength of immune responses. Pregnant women are not yet included in the study.
Meanwhile, South Africa remains the global epicentre of HIV, with an estimated eight million people living with the virus, the highest number worldwide, according to an article published by APA.
