National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has given approval for the use of the R21 malaria vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India.
Director General of the Agency, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this on Monday at a news conference in Abuja.
She said the vaccine is indicated for the prevention of clinical malaria in children within the age of 5 months to 36 months.
She also revealed that the country expects to get at least 100,000 doses of the new vaccine in donations before the market authorisation makes other arrangements, particularly with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
“NAFDAC in exercising its mandate as stipulated by its enabling law, NAFDAC Act CapN1, LFN 2004 is granting registration approval for R21 Malaria Vaccine (Recombinant, Adjuvanted) manufactured by Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.
“The malaria vaccine is indicated for the prevention of clinical malaria in children from 5 months to 36 months of age,” Adeyeye said.
The development is coming a few days after Ghana approved the malaria vaccine developed at the University of Oxford.
