💉 Ivory Coast first in the world to use new malaria vaccine

• Ivory Coast introduces new effective malaria vaccine.
• The vaccine is expected to save tens of thousands of children's lives each year.
• 15 African countries plan vaccination campaigns during 2024.

Important step in the fight against malaria

Ivory Coast has taken a step in the fight against malaria by becoming the first country in the world to introduce the new malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M. The first vaccination took place in Abidjan, and the vaccine will be distributed in 38 districts across the country.

R21/Matrix-M is a low-dose vaccine that is both effective and affordable. It can be manufactured quickly and on a large scale. Serum Institute of India has committed to producing 100 million doses annually.

The vaccine's development and effectiveness

The vaccine was jointly developed by the University of Oxford and Serum Institute of India, with help from Novavax. In December 2023, it received pre-qualification from the World Health Organization (WHO) after a rigorous regulatory and clinical assessment process.

Clinical trials have shown that the vaccine is well-tolerated and has a good safety profile. The most common side effects were pain at the injection site and fever.

Great potential to save lives

Malaria causes 600,000 deaths annually in Africa according to WHO, of which at least 80 percent are children under five. In Ivory Coast, the number of malaria-related deaths has decreased from 3,222 in 2017 to 1,316 in 2020, but the disease still kills four people a day, mostly young children.

Serum Institute of India offers the vaccine for less than four dollars per dose. The company's production capacity means that this highly effective and affordable vaccine can be manufactured quickly and on a large scale, which is crucial to halting the spread of the disease and protecting those vaccinated.

Planned rollout in other countries

A total of 656,600 doses have been delivered to Ivory Coast, which will initially vaccinate 250,000 children aged 0-23 months in 16 regions of the country. The R21/Matrix-M vaccine has also been approved by Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic.

15 African countries are expected to implement vaccination with support from Gavi during 2024. The countries plan to reach about 6.6 million children with the malaria vaccine in 2024 and 2025. Gavi and its partners are collaborating with more than 30 African countries that have expressed interest in introducing the malaria vaccine.

Increasing vaccinations in Africa

We have written several times before about the ongoing vaccination campaigns against malaria, especially in a number of African countries.

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