Monday 29th December 2025
By inAfrika Newsroom
The Africa malaria vaccine rollout 2025 has reached a key milestone, with 24 countries now offering the jab through routine childhood immunisation programmes. The World Health Organization says demand has stayed high as governments add RTS,S and R21 vaccines to national malaria-control plans.
Zambia became the 24th country to introduce a malaria vaccine in October, adding R21/Matrix-M to its Expanded Programme on Immunisation. The first phase aims to vaccinate more than 500,000 children aged six to eight months across 83 districts with high or moderate malaria burden.
UNICEF and Gavi say over 39–40 million doses have already been delivered across Africa. They estimate that more than 10 million children a year are now targeted for vaccination in the 24 countries that have incorporated the jab into routine schedules.
In November, Gavi and UNICEF announced a new pricing deal that cuts the cost of the R21 vaccine by 25%, from about US$4 to US$2.99 per dose. The alliance expects the lower price to free up enough funds for an extra 30 million doses, which could protect up to seven million additional children by 2030.
Health ministries are now focused on reaching remote communities and integrating vaccines with other tools like bed nets and preventive medicines. WHO says the biggest impact will come when countries combine malaria vaccines with a full package of recommended interventions.
Several nations, including Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Togo, are also preparing wider introductions or scale-ups in 2026, which will test supply chains and financing plans.
Malaria still kills more than half a million people a year, most of them African children under five. Routine vaccines do not replace existing tools, but they add a new layer of protection in areas where mosquitoes have become resistant to insecticides and drugs. The pace of the Africa malaria vaccine rollout 2025 also shows how fast new technologies can move when funding, regulation and delivery partners align. For families in high-risk districts from northern Zambia to rural Nigeria, each extra shipment means fewer nights of fear and more children reaching their fifth birthday.
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