WHO has told countries to expect a shortage of the newly approved malaria vaccine, RTS, due to expected high demand.
The World Health Organization made the announcement after vaccines financier Gavi said Kenya, Malawi and Ghana should apply to receive funding from a Sh18 billion kitty to receive the vaccine.
The three were chosen because they carried out the two-year vaccine pilot, which ended last year.
According to a WHO-commissioned global market study, about 25 million children are born each year in countries where the vaccine is recommended.
“Should a second malaria vaccine complete clinical development successfully and be approved for use, the period of constrained supply could be shorter. The demand is estimated to range from 80 to 100 million doses annually,” WHO said in a statement.
In response to the supply situation, the WHO said it would ration allocations to ensure children at highest risk across endemic countries are prioritised to receive the vaccine.
“Now is the time for African countries and communities to call out their interest — to donors, health leaders and manufacturers — in early access to this vaccine. Lives are at stake, every day,” WHO regional director Dr Matshidiso Moeti said.
“This situation underlines once again why expanded local production of vaccines is essential for meeting health needs in Africa. We’ve seen encouraging first steps in recent months, and we are committed to supporting further efforts to expand vaccine production in Africa," he said.
Earlier this week, Gavi announced Kenya will receive funding from an Sh18 billion kitty, to give the malaria vaccine to more children.
Gavi, the Geneva-based vaccines financier, said although it had handpicked Kenya, Ghana and Malawi for the financing, it must formally request the money by September 13.
Other countries with a high malaria burden will also have a chance to apply afterwards, Gavi said in a statement.
Kenya rolled out the vaccine in 2019 in eight counties with the highest malaria burden, namely, Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma, Busia, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Migori and Siaya.
By April this year, about 275,000 children had received at least one of the four doses.
The Kenya National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (Kenitag) has already advised the Ministry of Health to expand the vaccine to more counties.
During earlier clinical trials, RTS vaccination showed evidence of 35.9 per cent efficacy in the first year after vaccination, but efficacy fell to 2.5 per cent in the fourth year.
Gavi said that based on most recent data, more than 30 countries have geographic areas with moderate to high Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission. Here the vaccine could potentially provide additional protection against malaria to more than 25 million children per year.
“A vaccine has been the missing piece in the malaria toolkit since UNICEF first took up the fight against malaria decades ago, making this very welcome news,” Etleva Kadilli, director of Unicef's supply and procurement headquarters, said.
“We look forward to working with Gavi, WHO and other partners to bring this vaccine to the children who need it," she said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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