The World Health Organization, the UN children's agency UNICEF and the Gavi vaccine alliance said in a joint statement Wednesday (Nov.22)  that the delivery "[signaled] that scale-up of vaccination against malaria across the highest-risk areas on the African continent [would] begin shortly".

RTS,S— is the first malaria vaccine recommended by the WHO.

The jab acts against plasmodium falciparum—the deadliest malaria parasite globally and the most prevalent in Africa.