Malaria, a deadly African disease caused by mosquitoes, causes 500,000 child deaths annually. Despite attempts to treat it with nets and drugs, scientists have been working on a vaccine for years.

WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi announced that 12 African countries will receive 18 million doses of GSK's Mosquirix malaria vaccine, starting in late 2023. Africa has 95% of malaria cases and deaths, and by 2026, they may need 40-60 million doses.

Why hasn't a malaria vaccine been developed sooner?

Mosquirix development began in the 1980s. Making a malaria vaccine was difficult.

Vaccines train immune system to detect Plasmodium parasites, but Mosquirix focuses on early phase, bypassing evasion methods in Malaria's Plasmodium parasite.

From 2019-2021, tests on 800,000 kids in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi showed 30% fewer severe malaria cases and 10% fewer deaths, despite limited vaccine supply.

Mosquirix, a new malaria vaccine, is promising but not as effective as COVID-19 vaccines. R21/Matrix-M, a better vaccine, could work well, but more testing is needed. Oxford's Adrian Hill predicts reducing malaria deaths to under 50,000 by 2030. German company BioNtech is working on a new vaccine, potentially making malaria less dangerous or eliminating it entirely.