FG approves use of groundbreaking Oxford malaria vaccine

The federal government has granted provisional approval for the R21/Matrix malaria vaccine developed by scientists at Oxford University.

Director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye made the announcement at a press briefing on Monday.

The development comes days after Ghana became the first country to approve the vaccine — which is said to be 80 percent effective.

The malaria vaccine is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd.

Adeyeye said, “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in exercising its mandate as stipulated by its enabling law, NAFDAC Act CapN1, LFN 2004 is granting registration approval for R21 malaria vaccine.

“The vaccine is indicated for prevention of clinical malaria in children from five months to 36 months of age. The storage temperature of the vaccine is 2-8 °C.”