Malaria vaccine: Serum Institute’s R21 doses administered in Ivory Coast

The first doses of the R21 vaccination – the second malaria vaccine to be in use – were administered to children in the West African country’s commercial capital Abidjan on Monday, the developers and their partners said in a statement.

“The new vaccine has been authorized by Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic, and several other countries are preparing to receive shipments,” he said in the statement. A total of 656,600 doses have been received, which will initially vaccinate 250,000 children from newborns to 23 months of age in 16 regions of Ivory Coast.

Vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization

The World Health Organization recommended the use of this vaccine for children under five in Africa in 2023. There, this age group bears the brunt of a disease that kills more than 600,000 people each year. In Ivory Coast alone, four people die from the disease every day, according to the country’s health ministry.

Malaria is one of the world’s neglected diseases, with 95% of cases and 96% of deaths occurring in Africa – many of them in the continent’s poorest countries. Yet the lack of a lucrative commercial market has meant there has been relatively little incentive for vaccine development.

It has also been a difficult target for vaccine manufacturers. The parasites that cause the deadly disease are prone to mutations that allow them to develop resistance to treatments. In 2022, the WHO formally approved Mosquirix, the first vaccine for the disease, developed by GSK Plc and its partners.

More information about the vaccine

Serum has prepared 25 million doses and aims to increase production to 100 million annually. This vaccination uses an adjuvant developed by Novavax Inc. to help boost the immune response to malaria, and specifically targets a version of the parasite prevalent in Africa.

It will cost less than $4 per shot, which is less than the price currently available, with three doses given to children aged five to 36 months, followed by a booster dose a year later. Clinical trials showed the vaccine had an efficacy of up to 80% a year after the fourth dose was given.

The vaccines will be distributed primarily with the help of international health organisations such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO, the Global Fund and UNICEF.

“Fifteen African countries are expected to introduce malaria vaccines in 2024 with support from Gavi, and countries plan to deliver malaria vaccines to approximately 6.6 million children in 2024 and 2025,” the developers said. “Gavi and its partners are working with more than 30 African countries that have expressed interest in introducing malaria vaccines.”

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Published: July 16, 2024, 12:09 PM IST