Insights on the Implementation Strategies for a Potential New Tuberculosis Vaccine in South Africa
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Background
Several tuberculosis (TB) vaccines intended for adults and adolescents are in late-stage clinical trials, but there is limited research into how a new TB vaccine would be introduced. South Africa is at the forefront of TB vaccine research, with involvement in the clinical trials of leading candidates, in this study; we sought to understand what the interest, priorities and roll out approach of a potential new TB vaccine in South Africa would be.
Methods
We conducted semi-structured interviews with stakeholders with different expertise to understand their approach to the implementation of a new TB vaccine. A total of 26 stakeholders were interviewed during April and May 2025. Deductive analysis was used to develop a coding framework for thematic content analysis of the data.
Results
Stakeholders supported introducing a new TB vaccine in South Africa due to the high disease burden, but feasibility of the roll out was said to depend on vaccine price, cost-effectiveness, efficacy, regulatory approval, and implementation logistics. Efficacy below 50% could raise concerns unless supported by robust modelling demonstrating significant public health impact and cost-effectiveness. Stakeholders preferred a cheaper vaccine course to maximise availability and enable a broad population-based introduction. Priority populations for vaccination included adolescents and adults in the case of a broad population approach, and high-risk groups such as, people living with HIV, healthcare workers, TB household contacts, miners, prisoners and people living with diabetes. Whilst a national broad population-based approach was preferred, constraints may result in a phased rollout in high-burden areas and/or targeted vaccination to high-risk groups first. Strong advocacy, detailed cost effectiveness and cost benefit assessments, regulatory alignment, and integrated service delivery were seen as essential to successful implementation.
Conclusions
With the introduction of a new TB vaccine potentially as early as 2030, this study provides valuable insights, particularly regarding target populations, that can be utilised for the implementation of a new TB vaccine in South Africa to ensure its introduction is successful. Further work is required on vaccine acceptability and TB infection prevalence and modelling to estimate cost effectiveness and budget impact.
