Malaria : Vaccination Begins In January 2024

The Minister of Public Health, Malachie Manaouda via his twitter account has announced the entry of malaria vaccines into the country in three months. In his twitter post, the Minister of Public Health revealed that the Head of State Paul Biya, through the country’s partners, has obtained 1,600,000 doses of malaria vaccine which will be received in December 2023 and introduced into the vaccination routine programme come January 2024. 
Information indicates that the Expanded Immunisation Programme (EPI) is ready to deploy the vaccine to all the nooks and crannies of the country. Vaccination will effectively begin nationwide in January 2024.  With the limited quantity of vaccines that will arrive the country, the Ministry of Public Health has elaborated strategies to vaccinate infants in communities with the high risk malaria burden in all the ten regions and in all the 42 health districts which are the sites with highest transmission burden and risk of malaria severity in the country.
Sources at the Ministry of Public Health indicate that the vaccination programme will begin with children from 6 -24 months of age. Children will receive a dose of the vaccine and the cycle will continue until they will receive a series of four doses that is at six months, seven months, nine months and 24 months. This, according to medical experts, is to ensure adequate protection. Important to note is that the vaccination against malaria will be free for every child in the target population because they are those in the high risk group exposed to the severe form of malaria and its complications.
Cameroon is benefiting from the malaria vaccine thanks to research and approval from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the wide spread use of malaria vaccine abbreviated RTS, S/AS01 (R...