In a historic milestone, Nigeria has become the first nation to receive the ground-breaking MenFive vaccine from the Gavi-funded global stockpile.
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In a press statement made available to Journalists in Abuja the nations capital by Gavi, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) who facilitated the delivery of the vaccine, which is aimed at addressing an ongoing meningococcus C outbreak, said the doses will be administered to approximately a million children across six local government areas in Jigawa state: Babura, Birniwa, Gagarawa, Gumel, Maigatari, and Sule Tankarkar.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which finances global vaccine stockpiles and supports outbreak response campaigns in lower-income nations, oversees country requests for these stockpiles through the World Health Organization’s International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision.
“The ICG has sanctioned the deployment of 1,043,377 doses of MenFive in response to Nigeria’s urgent request.
“Developed over a 13-year collaboration between PATH and the Serum Institute of India, with backing from the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the MenFive vaccine received WHO prequalification in July 2023.
“This vaccine shields against the five primary serogroups of meningococcal meningitis prevalent in Africa, including serogroup X, making it the sole vaccine providing protection against this specific serogroup,” it added.
The Director of High Impact Countries at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Dr. Tokunbo Oshin, lauded this achievement, emphasizing the critical role of innovative vaccines like MenFive in combating rising infectious disease outbreaks globally.
He highlighted the success of previous vaccination efforts against meningitis A in Africa, expressing optimism that MenFive will similarly aid in mitigating outbreaks caused by other meningococcal serogroups.
“The arrival of this initial shipment marks the commencement of Gavi’s support for a multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MMCV) program.
“This program will oversee the rollout of the MenFive vaccine through outbreak response initiatives, routine immunization, and catch-up campaigns in high-risk countries, Gavi’s longstanding commitment to vaccination against meningitis A has already reached nearly 400 million children through campaigns and routine immunization, effectively eliminating meningitis A cases in Africa since 2017,” he said.
Dr. Oshin said the introduction of MenFive into health systems raises hopes that other circulating serogroups could eventually be eradicated as well.
“By the end of 2023, the global meningococcal vaccine stockpile had been accessed 62 times by 16 countries since 2009, with over 29 million doses deployed in support of affected nations,” he noted.
Meningitis is a disease transmitted through respiratory and throat secretions, infects the meninges, the brain and spinal cord’s protective lining.
It can lead to severe consequences such as hearing loss, brain damage, seizures, limb loss, and death.
The African meningitis belt, spanning 26 countries from Senegal to Ethiopia, including the northern regions of Nigeria, experiences seasonal outbreaks, particularly during the dry season from December to June, peaking between March and April.
This seasonal pattern is exacerbated by low air humidity and high dust levels, which facilitate meningococcal colonization of the nasopharyngeal epithelium.
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