The government, through the Ministry of Health, is launching the malaria vaccine in Quelimane, Zambezia province, in the center of the country. According to the Ministry, the vaccine will initially benefit children under the age of five.

Speaking yesterday, Sunday, in the city of Quelimane, the Minister of Health, Armindo Tiago, said that the sector he heads remains committed to reducing mortality cases due to malaria in the country. "The vaccine will be included in the expanded vaccination program, and we hope to reduce complications from malaria," he added.

On the other hand, Armindo Tiago indicated that in the near future the malaria vaccine could be administered throughout the country.

In April, the director of the National Malaria Control Program, Baltazar Candrinho, revealed that Mozambique plans to introduce the new malaria vaccine in the second half of the year, immunizing 600,000 children.

Baltazar Candrinho added that R21/Matrix-M will be used, the second vaccine against the disease for children, developed by Oxford University in the UK and approved in October last year by the World Health Organization (WHO). The vaccine will be introduced in the second half of the year for children under five, and the process will then be extended to other parts of the country.

According to the official, the government's goal is to start vaccinating the whole country in 2025, when there will be greater availability on the market. "There isn't enough vaccine production for all the countries. That's why it was distributed in small quantities. But the guarantee is that next year we will expand. The quantity we manage to have this year will cover one province, and we'll choose the one most affected by malaria," he explained.

The vaccine to be used in Mozambique is the second recommended by the WHO, after RTS,S/AS01 in 2021, following the advice of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) and the Malaria Policy Advisory Group (MPAG).

(Photo DR)