The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended a new vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, for the prevention of malaria in children.

The global health body in a press statement released on Monday said the new vaccine, R21/Matrix-M vaccine is the second vaccine against malaria to be approved, after the RTS,S vaccine which was approved in 2021.

The WHO said the addition of the second vaccine is expected to meet the demand and provide sufficient vaccine supply “to benefit all children living in areas where malaria is a public health risk.”

The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, has also assured that there is high hope that Nigeria will get the World Health Organisation newly-recommended R21/Matrix-M vaccine for the prevention of malaria in children by mid-2024.