Mozambique, Chad, Central African Republic, DR Congo and South Sudan will be the first five countries to receive the vaccine developed in India and the United Kingdom
The largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, based in India, will begin distributing a new vaccine once morest malaria, starting in May, in Africa, reported the agency France-Presse (AFP).
The Serum Institute of India (SII) plans to send, this year, 25 million doses of the low-cost vaccine, called R21, developed with the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Mozambique, Chad, Central African Republic, DR Congo and South Sudan will be the first five countries to receive doses of R21, the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) told AFP.
Uganda and Nigeria are planning to introduce the vaccine at the end of the year. “We offer these vaccines to the African continent for USD 4 (3.65 euros) or less in the first year.
And as we increase production, we will be able to lower the price a little more”, said the executive director of SII, Adar Poonawalla. Production might reach 100 million doses per year, he indicated.
The shipment of vaccines is expected to begin at the end of April and distribution will begin in May and June, said SII director of research and development, Umesh Shaligram.
R21 recommended by WHO R21 was recommended in October by the World Health Organization (WHO) to “prevent malaria in children at risk of contracting the disease”.
Unicef and the Global Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) will be the main organizations to acquire and distribute the vaccines. Two vaccines once morest malaria Transmitted to humans through the bites of certain types of mosquitoes, malaria kills more than 600,000 people every year, 95% of which are in Africa, according to WHO data.
On the continent, more than 80% of deaths are children under five. In 2021, another vaccine, “RTS,S”, produced by British pharmaceutical giant GSK, became the first vaccine to be recommended by the WHO to prevent malaria in children, in areas where transmission of the disease is moderate to high.
The two vaccines have similar efficacy rates of around 75% when administered under the same conditions.
