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One of the key scientists behind Oxford University’s malaria vaccine has expressed dissatisfaction with the World Health Organization’s lack of urgency, as the global health body has set mid-2024 as its target for distributing the vaccine.
Adrian Hill, director of the university’s Jenner Institute, stated that the health body did not consult with the university before announcing the timeline on Monday when it recommended the R21/Matrix-M vaccine for use in children.
Health experts believe that this vaccine will be a game-changer in combatting malaria. Oxford’s partnership with the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, provides it with greater production capacity compared to GSK, which produces the RTS,S shot, the first malaria vaccine approved for use in 2021.
“Why would you allow children to die instead of distributing the vaccine? There’s no sensible answer to that — of course you wouldn’t,” Hill told the Financial Times. The Serum Institute of India stated that it already has the capacity to produce 100 million doses annually.
“Hearing this [mid-2024 target] from the director-general at a press conference was news to everybody at Oxford,” said Hill, who was informed last week that a group of WHO experts had discussed plans to distribute R21 to about 20 countries in the first quarter of 2024.
“There’s plenty of vaccine, let’s get it out there this year. We’ve done our best to answer huge amounts of questions, none of which a mother with a child at risk of malaria would be interested in.”
Malaria, caused by parasites transmitted by mosquitoes, is a preventable and curable disease but remains a significant global health threat. In 2021, over 240 million cases were recorded worldwide. According to Unicef, a child under the age of five dies from malaria almost every minute.
Hill compared the timeline for the malaria vaccine distribution to the rapid rollout of the first Covid vaccines, which were distributed within weeks of approval.
“We’d like to see the same level of importance given to the malaria vaccine for children in Africa. We don’t want them sitting in a fridge in India,” he said. “We believe it would be unfair to rural African countries if they are not provided with the same speed of review and supply.”
The Serum Institute of India stated: “We have manufactured over 20 million doses, with a current annual capacity of 100 million doses. We will wait for further instructions from the WHO for pre-qualification. We expect the vaccine to be rolled out by the first or second quarter of next year through global vaccine alliance Gavi and Unicef.”
The WHO declined to comment on whether it had shared the mid-2024 timeline with the Serum Institute of India and Oxford prior to Monday’s announcement, but stated: “We fully agree that everything should be done to expedite the use of life-saving malaria vaccines.”
“WHO has pushed hard to get the R21 vaccine reviewed thoroughly by experts. Increasing supply and delivering the vaccine to children is a top priority,” said spokeswoman Margaret Harris. “We expect R21 to fill the supply gap and have a high impact to meet the significant public health need.”
Harris noted that the timeline provided was a conservative estimate based on the complexities involved in the process, including pre-qualification, which she stated was nearing completion.
“We have been working diligently, even before this announcement, to ensure the vaccine is delivered to children much earlier than the announced timeline,” she said, emphasizing that the rollout should not compromise safety, quality, and trust.
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