The first vaccine to protect against malaria has been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and could prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of children a year.
Malaria kills about half a million people worldwide annually.
Nearly all of those deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and include 260,000 children younger than 5 years, The New York Times reported.
About the vaccine
The Mosquirix vaccine is given in three doses between the ages of 5 months and 17 months, with a fourth dose about 18 months later.
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In clinical trials, the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine was about 50 percent effective against severe malaria in the first year, but that fell to close to zero by the fourth year.
After the clinical trials, the vaccine was incorporated into routine immunization programs in Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana.
So far, more than 2.3 million doses have been given to more than 800,000 children in those countries.
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How effective is it?
Those doses boosted the percentage of children protected against malaria in some way to more than
