Still today, half a million people die in Africa from malaria every year, and since the Covid-19 pandemic began, that number has been on the rise.
But new hope in the fight against malaria arrived two years ago via the world’s first-ever malaria vaccine. In October 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the RTS,S vaccine (developed by the pharmaceutical company GSK) for use in Africa. And this April, following preliminary trial results, two African countries approved a second, more effective malaria vaccine: the University of Oxford’s R21 vaccine.
These immunizations round out the world’s malaria-fighting arsenal, but new obstacles arise. Africa’s lack of health care facilities and workers; the multimillion-dollar price tag for distribution; and the expanding scope of malaria-carrying mosquitos all pose a threat to eradication efforts. Now, vaccine manufacturers, charitable organizations, government agencies, and local public health officials have to concentrate on getting shots in arms as equitably and quickly as possible, without forgoing other older methods of malaria prevention.
