There is, in fact, a vaccine. In fact, there are several in testing or under development. The trouble is, they don't appear to work very well, if at all, and AFAIK none are on the market.

The one I've been reading about is not generally available, since it's scheduled for its first trials in the general population in 2018. Efficacy is pretty bad--less than 50%. The complete series takes three shots spaced a month apart, followed by a booster a year and a half later. It has so far been almost worthless in the absence of that fourth shot. AFAIK, trials to date have involved infants and children, not adults.

If interested, Google is your friend. In the meantime, I'd say that PatOnTrip probably misunderstood what happened to his friend. For one thing, acute malaria is cyclical, and a bad day is often followed directly by a pretty good day. That doesn't imply any sort of cure. In fact, the first time I had malaria I was convinced I was almost fully recovered on alternate days for about a week...before I almost died.

Furthermore, the right treatment can indeed yield noticeable improvement quite quickly, so it's perfectly possible that his friend was treated, then improved rapidly...none of which has to do with an actual vaccine.

Mark