Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, World Health Organisation (WHO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund has exempt Nigeria from the list of 12 African countries that are to receive the 18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine.
The Health organizations disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement explained that in addition to the three test countries, which will continue to receive doses, nine other countries will benefit from supplies, WHO, UNICEF and the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) said in a statement.
They are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
The first vaccines are expected to arrive in the last quarter of 2023, and be deployed in early 2024.
According to the statement, a second malaria vaccine, the R21/Matrix-M developed by Oxford University and produced by the Serum Institute in India (SII), “is under review for pre-qualification” by the WHO, a procedure aimed at ensuring that health products to be supplied to low-income countries are safe and effective.
“It’s really important to remember nearly every minute a child dies of malaria… (vaccines are) an additional tool in the toolbox to fight against the severe disease, the deaths that occur,” said Kate O’Brien, director of the WHO’s immunisation and vaccines division.
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“(It) is a really essential step forward.”
The vaccine “is a step absolutely in the right direction, and it’s the preview of many more millions of doses that will go out,” the statement read.
The WHO, UNICEF and Gavi estimate that the global demand for malaria vaccines is expected to reach 40-60 million doses annually by 2026 and then between 80-100 million doses annually by 2030.
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