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HealthNigeria receive, new R21 malaria vaccine

Nigeria receive, new R21 malaria vaccine

 October 18, 2024

 

Nigeria hasF taken delivery of her first batch of the vaccine since it was endorsed by the World Health Organisation, WHO alongside the RTS,S vaccine in October 2023.

Nigerian government received the 846,200 doses of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccines from GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance
On Thursday 17, 2024

At the handing over ceremony of the vaccine in Abuja, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, stated that a balance of 153,800 more doses are expected on 26 October to make it a million malaria vaccines.

The minister who described the development as a significant milestone in Nigeria’s fight against malaria, said Nigeria plans to combine the vaccine with other existing tools proven to be effective in controlling and eliminating malaria in the country.

The R21 malaria vaccine, is a newer vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech and was approved by WHO in 2023. Nigeria’s medicines regulatory agencies also approved it.

R21 is intended to protect against Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite globally.

The vaccine contains a high dose of the malaria antigen and uses the Matrix-M adjuvant to boost immune response.

Malaria is responsible for 11 per cent of maternal deaths and 25 per cent of deaths among infants in Nigeria.

The GAVI Head of Malaria Vaccine, Scott Gordon, earlier told the gathering that the three countries that began deployment of doses of malaria vaccine to children in their countries were those who received RTS,S.

READ MORE; JOHESU gives FG 15-day ultimatum, threatens strike.

The Vaccines to Nigeria had been delayed because the malaria vaccine designated for deployment into the country by GAVI was not ready for distribution at the time, this vaccine was ready for distribution earlier in the year.

According to Mr Gordon, countries were matched with the vaccines based on cost alongside their level of demand.

Mr Scott noted that GAVI considered the R21 vaccine best suited for Nigeria based on the country’s needs and plans, as presented in its proposal to GAVI.

“The match is based in part on the cost of the vaccine as well as the available supply. It is to make sure there’s enough of the vaccine to scale up according to Nigeria’s needs and plans,”

The R21/Matrix-M given to Nigeria is a new malaria vaccine which functions almost like the RTS,S vaccine. However, it is designed to give stronger immunity against the malaria parasite while reducing responses to an unrelated part of the vaccine.

The R21 vaccine targets the malaria parasite before it reaches the red blood cells, where the parasite usually multiplies and causes common symptoms such as fever, headache and a general feeling of discomfort.

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