Malaria vaccines are here—can surveillance keep pace?

Abstract

Malaria vaccines RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M represent a major advance in malaria control, with rapid expansion across Africa. As vaccination scales up, surveillance, programme monitoring, and evaluation will be essential to track disease trends, vaccine delivery, coverage, safety, effectiveness, and impact. Linking immunization, malaria, laboratory, genomic, and geospatial data can help identify breakthrough infections, parasite changes, and populations being missed. Strengthening existing systems and sustained investment in data, laboratory, and workforce capacity will be critical to achieving equitable and lasting vaccine impact.