When the World Health Organization approved a malaria vaccine for the first time in October 2021, it was widely hailed as a milestone. "This is a historic moment," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a statement that month.
The vaccine — dubbed RTS,S — promises a 30 percent reduction in severe malaria in fully vaccinated children. In 2020, a research team estimated that each year, the vaccine could prevent between 3 and 10 million malaria cases, and save the lives of 14,000 to 51,000 small children, depending on how it's implemented.
