The government announced on Saturday that Ivory Coast received its first round of malaria immunizations this week. Malaria kills four people in Ivory Coast every day, usually tiny children.
The ministry reported that 656,600 doses in total have been received, and that these will “initially vaccinate 250,000 children aged between 0 and 23 months” in 16 locations.
In the Ivory Coast, the number of deaths from malaria have decreased from 3,222 in 2017 to 1,316 in 2020; yet, the Ministry of Health states that malaria “remains the leading cause of medical consultations”.
Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic have approved the R21/Matrix-M vaccine.
In addition, the Ivorian government is spraying pesticide in endemic regions and giving out mosquito nets.
If treatment for malaria is not received, the illness can worsen or possibly be fatal and cause fever, chills, and headaches.
According to the WHO, it was the cause of more than 600,000 fatalities globally in 2022, with 95% of those deaths occurring in Africa and 80% in children under the age of five.
Produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the vaccine is the second malaria vaccination that the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised for children.
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