New data suggests that a malaria vaccine developed with the help of Britain’s Oxford University scientists is up to 78 per cent effective in the youngest children.
In 2024, the R21/Matrix-M vaccine was recommended for use by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
New data from a phase 3 trial in African children confirms the jab is effective and safe.
Researchers immunised more than 4,800 young children in a trial in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania and found, on average, 78 per cent efficacy in the five to 17-month age group over the first year.
The experts said that so far, no other vaccine has reported more than 55 per cent effectiveness in the same age group.
According to the findings published in The Lancet, a booster dose of a year maintained good efficacy over the following six to 12 months. The overall efficacy was between 68 per cent and 75 per cent for children aged five to 36 months old.
So far, 25 million doses have been manufactured and made ready for roll-out by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in the next three to four months.
Significantly increased immune responses to the vaccine and slightly higher vaccine efficacy were observed in five to 17-month-olds compared to 18 to 36-month-olds, supporting planned vaccine deployment initially from five months of age in African children.
Malaria is the largest cause of death in young African children, with 600,000 dying every year.