Malawi begins world’s first large-scale malaria vaccination

Malawi has begun large-scale vaccination of children against malaria.

This is the first large-scale malaria vaccination campaign since the World Health Organisation (WHO) endorsed the widespread use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine in October 2021.

The endorsement followed a two-year vaccination programme, which involved more than 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.

The vaccine, which is recommended for children from five months of age to around 18 months, has an efficacy of 39 percent.

The first phase of the vaccination in Malawi is expected to cover 11 of the country’s 28 districts.

In a tweet on Tuesday, the WHO in Malawi said the expansion of access to the malaria vaccine will enable more children at risk of malaria to benefit from an additional prevention tool.

“Malawi has expanded access to the first malaria vaccine! The expansion of the RTS,S Malaria vaccine, into the 11 districts that participated in the malaria vaccine implementation program (MVIP) has been launched today. The vaccine offers a glimmer hope for Malawi,” WHO wrote.

The expansion of access to first #malaria vaccine will enable thousand more children at risk of malaria illness & deaths to benefit from an additional malaria prevention tool. https://t.co/QkejdWG2op

— WHOMalawi (@WHOMalawi) November 29, 2022

Michael Kayange, Malawi’s national malaria control programme manager, told the BBC’s Focus on Africa that although the vaccine has low efficacy, “in malaria control, there is no single intervention that does it all”.

“We’re not saying that the malaria vaccine has come to eliminate malaria but it’s one tool towards malaria elimination,” he said.

Kayange added that the new immunisation campaign will ensure that all children under five, even in the remotest parts of the country, are covered.