Biggest science news of 2021: RTS,S becomes world’s first approved malaria vaccine

October saw the RTS,S malaria vaccine given the go-ahead for use outside trials for the first time – a momentous decision, decades in the making



Health



15 December 2021

Jeywellan Ochieng, 2, reacts after receiving the vaccine against Malaria as she is held by her mother Julliet Achieng at the Yala Sub County Hospital Mother and Child Healthcare (MCH) clinic in Gem, Siaya County, Kenya October 7, 2021. REUTERS/James Keyi

REUTERS/James Keyi/Alamy

Decades in the making, October saw a malaria vaccine given the go-ahead for use outside trials for the first time, described as a “historic moment” by World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Below, Jeywellan Ochieng receives the vaccine in Kenya on 7 October, the day the announcement was made.

This RTS,S vaccine reduces cases of severe malaria by only 30 per cent, but because the disease causes more than 400,000 deaths a year, it should save many lives.

Several other malaria vaccines are in the works, and some may be more than 70 per cent effective.

2021 in review

This was a year of tackling great challenges, from the covid-19 pandemic to climate change. But 2021 was also rich in scientific discoveries and major advances.

More on these topics: