The World Health Organisation issued the recommendation for a second malaria vaccine on Monday in an effort to provide nations with a less expensive and more accessible option to combat the deadly disease.
According to WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the new vaccine, known as R-21, was created by Oxford University with assistance from the Serum Institute of India. It will be available in a few African nations early next year before rolling out to more countries later in 2024.
The three-dose vaccine is estimated to be approximately 75% effective according to research that has not yet been through the standard process of scientific evaluation. Boosters would be accessible for continuous defence.
In a briefing in Geneva, Tedros said, "Almost exactly two years ago, WHO recommended the broad use of the world's first malaria vaccine called RTS,S" also known as Mosquirix.
The Serum Institute says it could generate 200 million doses of the R-21 vaccine yearly, While GSK, a British drugmaker, can only create 15 million doses of Mosquirix per year.
Mosquirix, created GSK, requires four doses, is only about 30% effective, and wears off within months. According to the WHO, there is not enough data to determine if the recently developed Oxford vaccine will be more effective.
The goal of a broad vaccination rollout is to significantly lower the spread of diseases and infection rates. The public has been urged by experts not to replace vaccines for other preventative measures including bed nets and insecticide spraying, which are necessary to use.
The WHO also recommended a dengue vaccine made by Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Like malaria. The vaccine from Takeda Pharmaceuticals was demonstrated to be successful in all four virus stereotypes in persons who had already contracted the disease, but it performed low in some of these stereotypes in those who had not yet contracted the disease.
(With input from agencies)
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