Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has completed the first full round of R21 malaria vaccine in Ethiopia, and the first ever completed in a refugee camp globally. In Kule refugee camp, in Gambella region, home to more than 55,000 South Sudanese refugees, 2,100 children under five received their fourth and final dose in November 2025. This marked the successful vaccination of the first cohort with the WHO recommended vaccine for areas of moderate-to-high malaria transmission in collaboration with the Refugee and Returnee Service, Ministry of Health and UNHCR.
“This is the first time the R21 vaccine has been fully implemented in Ethiopia, and one of the earliest comprehensive rollouts on the African continent. It is also the first full vaccination round carried out in a refugee camp anywhere in the world,” says Dr. Winston Mulanda, MSF medical coordinator in Ethiopia. “It marks an important step in protecting children who live in some of the highest-risk conditions for malaria.”
In 2024, malaria transmission in the camp reached the highest level in five years. In response, MSF introduced the R21 vaccine in August as part of an expanded prevention package. Alongside vaccination, teams implemented Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Infants and Children, a medication that helps prevent the infection of malaria for children, conducted indoor residual spraying across all 10,079 households in Kule refugee camp and distributed insecticide-treated nets to families.
