Despite underwhelming performance (see my June 6, 2025 post) the malaria vaccines, that were tested against a rabies vaccine and not a true placebo (see February 8, 2025, December 22, 2024, August 11, 2024, & June 5, 2024) are being promoted heavily in malaria stricken areas, selling people hope that can not be backed by reliable, unbiased studies.
The lead blog in Malaria World this week is ‘How the malaria vaccine came to the world’s most mosquito-bitten district’, a discussion of how Gavi (vaccineswork) is rolling out R21/Matrix-M vaccine in the world’s most mosquito-bitten district, Apac in Uganda. Complete with a YouTube video the promotion is laden with false hope. Children are administered four does at 6, 7, 8, and 18 months), and Dr Odongo, the health officer for the region, stated “We wanted to get on top of any misinformation that could cause hesitancy, and encourage mothers to bring their eligible children for the vaccination”. And the campaign is succeeding with most of the mothers and community leaders in the district as enthusiastic about the vaccine as the health professionals and looking forward to the roll-out.
It reminds me of the enthusiasm in most countries in 2021 for the COVID19 vaccines, and we know how that panned out. They’re even describing it as a ‘magic bullet’. Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, made the same argument during the April 2 launch. She said that the vaccine was expected to prevent at least 800 cases of severe malaria in children every day.
A research article in Malaria World, ‘Malaria vaccine acceptance and associated factors in Cameroon: A nationwide cross-sectional survey’ by Njoh et al discusses vaccine acceptance. Sadly, the full article is behind a paywall. In summary, they found 91% malaria vaccine acceptance. This rate varied from 78% in the Littoral to 94% in the Far North and Southwest regions. Factors that favour vaccine acceptance include a history of severe malaria, awareness of the availability of the malaria vaccine for infants and working in the vaccination service. Elements reported for vaccine hesitancy include fear of unsafe and negative rumours about the vaccine.
The authors concluded that people in Cameroon are willing to get their children vaccinated against malaria. However, following regional acceptance disparities and identified hesitancy points, it is crucial to reinforce communication to address population groups, doubts, and rumours about vaccines to ensure optimal uptake in the country’s regions during the malaria vaccine rollout.
Tackling misinformation and disinformation. About what have we heard that lately? Will any of these promoters tell the truth about how the vaccines were tested and how much they, personally, are benefitting financially from the rollout?