“One year since the launch of routine malaria vaccinations in Africa, over 9.8 million doses of malaria vaccines (in total 12 million since 2023) have been delivered to 17 endemic countries through the Gavi malaria vaccination programme.
Surpassing the initial target of 15 countries, the pace of rollout is an indication of the high demand for this new tool as well as years of preparation by countries and partners. In total, an estimated 5 million children in these 17 countries that collectively represent more than 70% of the world’s malaria burden have been protected…
Data released this month by Cameroon’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) found that districts included in the first wave of vaccination saw a higher drop, of 17% in all-cause hospital/clinic consultations for children under five years than those areas without the vaccine. About 60% of the malaria-vaccinating districts recorded a drop in all-cause under-five deaths, and 57% recorded a drop in deaths linked to malaria in children aged under five.
With the vaccine administered so far to over 130,000 children in the country, experts caution that – while these results are promising and consistent with MVIP findings – additional data, study and follow-ups are needed to demonstrate the direct impact of the vaccine.”
From Gavi.
