The 100-Year Life Health Education and Government
After 30 years of research, the first affordable malaria vaccine was administered to children yesterday in Ivory Coast. It marks a turning point in the fight to eradicate a disease that kills nearly half a million children under five in Africa each year. The R21 vaccine was developed at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute (which also worked on AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 jab) and is being rolled out in malaria-endemic areas. R21 is the second malaria vaccine recommended by the World Health Organization (the first is already being administered in Cameroon). But, it is about half as expensive at only $4 a shot and supported by the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturer, India’s Serum Institute, which has the capacity to produce 100 million doses a year. Both vaccines prevent around 75 per cent of malaria cases when administered in areas of high seasonal transmission. Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of the Serum Institute, told The Times “a malaria-free world is finally within sight”. The WHO said the first dose was given to an eight-month-old baby named Kalilou.
