More than 128,000 children have been vaccinated against malaria in Kenya following the launch of the pilot scheme last year.
Launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners, the malaria vaccine pilot programme is ongoing in three countries-Kenya, Ghana and Malawi.
One year later, more than 1 million doses of the RTSS/ASO1 malaria vaccine has been administered.
An estimated 480,000 children have received their first dose of the vaccine in childhood vaccination and should benefit from this additional malaria prevention, according to WHO.
In Kenya, the vaccine programme has been rolled out in certain parts of Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori, Siaya, Busia, Bungoma, Vihiga, and Kakamega counties.
Children up to 2 years of age are the targeted in the programme.
According to the Ministry of Health guidelines, clinical trials have shown that when used alongside other recommended malaria interventions, fewer incidents of malaria in children and less hospital admissions will be experienced.
