Uganda launches largest malaria vaccine introduction to date
Uganda has launched a malaria vaccination campaign in Apac District, northern Uganda. This makes Uganda the 19th country in Africa to introduce the malaria vaccine into routine immunisation, and it marks the largest malaria vaccine roll-out to date in terms of target districts and population.
The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine, administered in four doses at 6, 7, 8, and 18 months, will initially target 1.1 million children under two years of age in 105 high- and moderate-transmission districts across Uganda, with plans for nationwide expansion.
R21/Matrix-M was first described in 2017 and received licensure and WHO prequalification within six years. R21 was conceived as an advancement of RTS,S - the first malaria vaccine, developed by the multinational pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)—by increasing the ratio of the antigen circumsporozoite protein (CSP) to the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) backbone. R21 is adjuvanted with Matrix-M, which is owned by Novavax, Inc., and is produced by the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (SIIPL).
