Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.

Use escape to exit the menu.

• The Ivory Coast began a routine malaria vaccination program using the world’s second shot developed to protect against malaria on Monday.
• Some 15 African countries plan to introduce one of the two available malaria vaccines this year.
• The rollout of a second vaccine is a big milestone in the global fight against malaria, but demand for the shots is likely to far outstrip supply for several years.

The world’s second vaccine against malaria was launched on Monday as the Ivory Coast began a routine vaccine program using shots developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India.

The introduction of the World Health Organization (WHO)-approved R21 vaccine comes six months after the first malaria vaccine, called RTS,S and developed by British drugmaker GSK, began being administered in a routine program in Cameroon.

Some 15 African countries plan to introduce one of the two malaria vaccines this year with support from the Gavi global vaccine alliance.

WITH GLOBAL CRISES MULTIPLYING, WHO’S EMERGENCY PROGRAM FACES SEVERE FUNDING SHORTFALL, REPORT SAYS

Ivory Coast has received a total of 656,600 doses of the Oxford and Serum shot, which will initially vaccinate 250,000 children aged between 0 and 23 months across the West African country. The vaccine has also been approved by Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic.

The rollout of a second vaccine is the latest milestone in the global fight against malaria and should help address a problem that emerged well before either of the two shots was launched: demand for them is likely to far outstrip supply for several years.

Experts say having safe and effective malaria vaccines is important to meet demand. The shot is meant to work alongside existing tools – such as bed nets – to combat malaria, which in Africa kills nearly half a million children under the age of five each year.

The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the vaccine, has produced 25 million doses for the initial rollout of the shot and “is committed to scaling up to 100 million doses annually”, the company said on Monday about the launch in the Ivory Coast.

Serum said it is offering the vaccine for less than $4 per dose, in keeping with its aim to deliver low-cost vaccines at scale.

Results from a large trial in February showed the vaccine prevented around three-quarters of symptomatic malaria cases in young children the first year after they got the shots.

Experts told Reuters at that time that comparing the two malaria vaccines head-to-head was difficult because of the many variables involved in the trials, but overall their performance was similar – a conclusion endorsed by WHO.

At least two people staying at a sprawling migrant shelter in New York City have contracted measles and health officials in the Big Apple are working to stop the spread of the disease, according to reports. 

The outbreak took place at a migrant shelter on Hall Street in Clinton Hill, a huge taxpayer-run facility which opened last year. The facility houses around 3,000 migrants.

The two people who tested positive are being quarantined on one floor of the building while dozens more are also being quarantined, according to CBS.

VACCINATING MIGRANTS LIKE US CHILDREN WOULD HAVE PREVENTED DISEASE OUTBREAKS AT CHICAGO SHELTERS: EXPERTS

Measles is a highly contagious and serious airborne disease that can lead to severe complications and even death, especially in children. It is characterized by a fever as high as 105°F and malaise, cough, coryza and conjunctivitis followed by spots and a rash, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The news comes amid a spike of measles cases in the city, with 11 cases reported in 2024 as of July 12, according to the city’s health department. That is up from just one case last year, which followed three consecutive years of zero cases being reported. In 2019, a major outbreak in the city saw 605 cases. 

The number of measles cases in the U.S. so far this year is nearly three times the total for all of 2023. A total of 167 measles cases have been reported so far this year in the U.S., with about 53% of those cases resulting in hospitalization as of July 11, according to the CDC.

There have also been measles and tuberculosis outbreaks at migrant facilities in Chicago. At least two students who tested positive for measles were attending school.

TUBERCULOSIS BREAKS OUT AT CHICAGO MIGRANT SHELTERS FOLLOWING MEASLES CASES

Newly arrived migrants are offered vaccines at a Midtown intake facility, city officials say. It’s not clear how many people at the Clinton Hill facility are vaccinated. Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office and the city’s health department for comment but did not immediately receive a response. 

City Councilmember Crystal Hudson, who represents the district where the facility is located, says the city should be doing more to vaccinate the migrants.

“My office has been pushing this administration to provide vaccines to residents at this site for months, only to be rebuffed time and time again,” Hudson told the New York Post. “In fact, our request for a vaccination van at an on-site resource fair organized by my office on June 1 was denied.”

New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan says people at the shelter who may have been exposed will be tested to verify if they were vaccinated for measles. Those who were not will have to quarantine for three weeks, Vasan said, according to CBS.

Police patrol outside the migrant shelter in Brooklyn on July 21, 2023, where an outbreak of measles occurred. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“The Health Department and Health + Hospitals are coordinating to ensure that anyone who’s been exposed gets the support and resources they need,” Vasan told the outlet in a statement, while encouraging people to get vaccinated. 

“While measles may be an extremely contagious virus, the risk to the community is low as most New Yorkers are vaccinated against it. Importantly, measles is preventable. The single best way to prevent measles is to be vaccinated.”

The measles virus under a microscope (BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Officials say the risk of contracting measles is extremely low after getting vaccinated.