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Over the next two years, 12 countries across different regions in Africa will receive 18 million doses of the first-ever malaria vaccine, prioritized to areas where the risk of malaria illness and death among children are highest. Since 2019, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have administered the RTS.S/AS01 vaccine to more than 1.7 million children, cutting cases of severe malaria and child deaths, and nine more countries will introduce the vaccine into their routine immunization programs as a result of this allocation. At least 28 African countries have expressed interest in receiving the malaria vaccine. Malaria kills nearly half a million children under the age of 5. Malaria in Africa accounts for approximately 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of deaths in 2021. As well as the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine, a second vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, could also be prequalified soon.
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