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Nigeria Takes Major Step in Malaria Fight with R21 Vaccine

Nigeria has received one million doses of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine from Gavi Alliance, marking an important milestone in the fight against malaria. The first phase of vaccinations will begin in November in Kebbi and Bayelsa, which have a high malaria prevalence.

This makes the country one of the first in the world to support the new R21 vaccine, developed by scientists at Oxford University and manufactured by Novavax and the Serum Institute of India. Nigeria's medicines regulator provisionally approved the vaccine in April of last year.

Nigeria's Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has referred to the development as a significant step forward in the fight against malaria and said that Nigeria plans to combine the vaccine with existing tools that have proven effective in controlling and eliminating malaria.

InFocus

World Health Organization

Readying for a mass malaria vaccination campaign (file photo).

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