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On Monday, the Ivory Coast became the first country to officially deploy the R21 vaccine, a new and powerful weapon against malaria.

This is not the first malaria vaccine. Its predecessor, known as RTS,S or Mosquirix, is already available in many African countries. However, R21 is superior in two important ways. First, it is more potent, showing greater and longer-lasting protection in trials. Second, at under four dollars a dose, it is far cheaper. According to an analysis from 1 Day Sooner, a health policy non-profit, R21 can save a healthy year of life for 39 US dollars, compared to 129 dollars for the RTS,S vaccine. That puts R21 on par with bed nets, the most cost-effective intervention.

With international support, R21 should reach over six million children by 2025, and this is likely just the beginning. The manufacturer, Serum Institute of India, has already produced 25 million doses and plans to produce up to 100 million annually in anticipation of large-scale roll-outs.

It’s best to think of R21 as an addition to an already powerful malaria-fighting toolkit. By spraying insecticides and draining swamps, many countries have eliminated malaria entirely. And in regions that remain malarial, the disease has been steadily tamed (an upsurge during the Covid pandemic aside) thanks to public health programs and the development of antimalarial medicines. However, despite this progress, malaria still kills around half a million people each year and imposes a severe economic cost on already poor countries. R21 and other malaria vaccines will likely play a large role in reducing that burden.

Malcolm Cochran, Digital Communications Manager

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