Covid-19-Morocco: Foreign residents thankful to the King for free access to vaccination

Foreign residents in Morocco are vaccinated against the COVID-19 free of charge in the various vaccination centers set up across the country.

In this connection, l’Association des Français de Rabat (AFR) said in a statement that following instructions by King Mohammed VI, foreign residents in Morocco, and in particular French expatriates, received free vaccines against Covid-19.

The foreign residents benefit for free from the anti-Covid-19 vaccine in the same way as Moroccan citizens, AFR said.

The AFR President, Committee and members “would like to warmly thank HM the King, who, thanks to his generosity, allowed French nationals in Morocco to be vaccinated in the same way as his people,” the Association said in its statement, noting that the inoculation acts and the follow-up are taking place in “excellent conditions”.

Ms. Marion Fossorier, a foreigner who has been living in Morocco for 30 years, precisely in Marrakech, said she was impressed by the brilliant organization of this vaccination campaign, which is taking place under excellent conditions.

“I registered via the internet and got an appointment within 48 hours,” said this French teacher. The vaccination “only took me a few minutes,” she said, praising the organization of the campaign which has nothing to envy to that of European countries, she said.

The national anti-coronavirus vaccination campaign kickstarted by King Mohammed VI on January 28 is unfolding under excellent conditions and enabled so far to inoculate over 3,800,000 persons, a figure which ranks Morocco in the top ten regarding the number of daily inoculations carried out across the country.

In this vein, the World Health Organization (WHO) congratulated Morocco on the success of its Covid-19 vaccination efforts, indicating that the country is among the “top 10 successful countries” in launching a national vaccination campaign.

Overall, more than 94% of doses administered in Africa are in Morocco.

Several international media have also hailed Morocco’s performance, saying that the Kingdom is doing better than several European countries and that it is the champion in North Africa.

Morocco plans to inoculate 30 million people, or 80% of its population to reach herd immunity and then unlock the economy and lift all travel restrictions.

Morocco has placed orders for 66 million doses of vaccines produced by the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm. It has so far received seven million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and one million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.

Other deliveries are expected in the course of the current month.

According to the latest available figures disclosed by the High Commission for Planning, the number of foreigners residing in Morocco amounts to 84,001 inhabitants, or a proportion of 0.25% of the entire Moroccan population.

The foreigners settled in Morocco mainly come from Africa (41.6% with 34,966 souls); Europe (40% with 33,615 people) and the Maghreb (31.9% with 11,142 people). The other foreign residents come from the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.