The joint statement by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) revealed this significant development.
The RTS,S/AS01 vaccine is the first of its kind to be recommended by the WHO for preventing malaria in children residing in areas with moderate to high malaria transmission rates.
Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi have been administering the malaria vaccine since 2019 through the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme, coordinated by the WHO and funded by Gavi, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, as well as Unitaid.
Over 1.7 million children in these countries have received the vaccine, which has proven to be safe and effective, leading to a substantial reduction in severe malaria cases and child mortality rates. As many as 28 African nations have expressed interest in obtaining the malaria vaccine.
In addition to the initial three countries, the allocation of 18 million doses will enable nine more countries, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, to introduce the vaccine into their routine immunization programs for the first time.
The first batch of vaccine doses is expected to arrive in the countries during the last quarter of 2023, with roll-out plans set to begin in early 2024. This allocation round is facilitated by Gavi's supply of vaccine doses through UNICEF.
The statement emphasized that the allocation process followed the principles outlined in the framework for the distribution of limited malaria vaccine supply, prioritizing areas with the highest need and where children face the greatest risk of malaria-related illnesses and fatalities.
“This vaccine has the potential to be very impactful in the fight against malaria, and when broadly deployed alongside other interventions, it can prevent tens of thousands of future deaths every year,” said the Managing Director of Country Programmes Delivery at Gavi, Thabani Maphosa.
