A well being employee administers the Oxford-Serum R21 malaria vaccine to a baby in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Picture/Diomande Ble Blonde) | Picture credit score: Diomande Ble Blonde
Well being employees in Ivory Coast started administering the final malaria vaccine to kids on Monday, July 15, 2024, the beginning of a regional marketing campaign that consultants hope can curb the influence of considered one of Africa’s main killer illnesses.
The West African nation grew to become the primary to start distributing the brand new malaria vaccine, aiming to cowl some 250,000 kids below the age of two. The three-dose vaccine, often called R21/Matrix-M, was developed by Oxford College in Britain and was authorized by the World Well being Group final October.
Analysis suggests it’s greater than 75 % efficient at stopping extreme illness and dying throughout the first 12 months, with safety extending for no less than one other 12 months with a booster dose.
Alice Kanga was considered one of many individuals who introduced her kids to get vaccinated on Monday. “It is vitally vital for the youngsters, for his or her well being,” she stated.
In 2021, the WHO authorized the primary malaria vaccine, often called Mosquirix, made by GSK. However that vaccine requires 4 doses and safety wears off inside months. GSK additionally beforehand stated it may solely produce about 15 million doses.
However India’s Serum Institute has already produced 25 million doses of the Oxford vaccine and says it plans to make no less than 100 million annually, at a price of about $4 a dose.
Greater than 94 % of the world’s estimated 249 million circumstances of malaria and 608,000 deaths annually happen in Africa. The parasitic illness is transmitted by mosquitoes and most frequently impacts kids below 5 and pregnant ladies.
Pierre Demba, Ivory Coast’s well being minister, stated the rollout of malaria vaccination was a sign of the federal government’s dedication to investing within the nation’s kids.
“They’re the way forward for our nation,” he stated.
Different mosquito management measures stay important
Adrian Hill of Oxford College stated in a press release that the Ivory Coast launch “marks the start of a brand new period in malaria management,” including that he hoped the vaccine would quickly be accessible to all African nations that wished to make use of it.
However as a result of malaria vaccines don’t cease the unfold of the illness, consultants have lengthy warned that different measures corresponding to insecticide spraying, improved therapies and the usage of mosquito nets will stay important.
The Gavi vaccine alliance, which helps poor nations purchase vaccines, stated different nations together with the Central African Republic, Chad and South Sudan have additionally obtained provides of the Oxford-developed vaccine.