Ghana Approves Oxford Malaria Vaccine for Children Under Three
On Thursday, Ghana announced that it has become the first country to approve Oxford University’s new malaria vaccine, which is targeted at children under the age of three.
The vaccine has been approved by Ghana’s drug regulator for children aged five to 36 months, who are at the highest risk of dying from the mosquito-borne disease that kills over 600,000 people annually, mostly children in Africa.
However, it is not yet clear when the vaccine will be rolled out in Ghana. Oxford has partnered with the Serum Institute of India to produce up to 200 million doses of the vaccine annually.
This is the first time a major vaccine has been approved first in an African country ahead of rich nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) is still assessing the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness and typically pays for childhood vaccines in Africa after they are backed by the WHO.
The first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix from British drugmaker GSK, was endorsed by the WHO in 2022 after decades of work, but the company’s capacity to produce as many doses as needed was limited due to lack of funding and commercial potential.