Dutch Radio, other international media highlight Morocco’s vaccine headway

While some countries are still behind on their COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Morocco has received recognition for its efforts and the speed at which it has managed to launch a successful vaccination drive.

In this connection, Dutch public radio station “NPO Radio 1” has underscored the success of Morocco’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which has enabled the Kingdom to be among the most advanced countries in the world in this area.

The Dutch media underlined that since the vaccination campaign was launched in Morocco on January 28 by King Mohammed VI, it has accelerated remarkably.

As the figures show, Morocco has clearly overtaken its European neighbors in terms of vaccination coverage, NPO Radio 1 pointed out.

Commenting the success of the vaccination campaign in Morocco, the Dutch radio gave the floor to its correspondent in Casablanca, who noted that in parallel with the increase in the number of people inoculated, the number of COVID-19 continues to drop in the country.

According to NPO Radio 1 correspondent, Morocco, aware that vaccination is the only way to overcome the health crisis and to curb the spread of the pandemic, is able to meet the challenge of vaccination thanks to a proactive approach.

The Dutch radio correspondent recalled that the Kingdom began early discussions with pharmaceutical companies and concluded agreements with AstraZeneca and Sinopharm to acquire enough doses of vaccines to immunize its population.

NPO Radio 1 also commended the Kingdom’s management of the pandemic, noting that Morocco has shown firmness in its response to the health crisis.

The Dutch media also highlighted efforts made by Moroccan authorities to fight the spread of fake news and disinformation that accompanied the outbreak of the virus.

Last week, German daily Die Welt also published a long article on Morocco’s successful national vaccination campaign, saying the country has overtaken most of European countries, including Germany.

“Morocco is way ahead of Europe at the moment. For a second time, we must admit, because throughout the pandemic it has been far more successful than its European neighbors” said the paper, noting that Morocco’s successful vaccine campaign shows once again that its crisis management is “robust”.

The German media listed the measures adopted by Morocco to curb the spread of the pandemic starting with borders closure and halt of international flights on March 13 last year, when there were only four known cases of coronavirus in the country. The government also decided to close schools that same day. Shortly afterwards, the authorities declared a medical emergency, imposing a curfew from 6 p.m., banning travel between cities, and ordering the closure of all shops except supermarkets and chemists.

The authorities made face coverings mandatory from very early on, and stepped-up mask production. The ailing public health system was also given a boost, with modern equipment sent to hospitals. Emergency clinics sprang up and vast amounts of medicine were made available, the German media pointed out, indicating further that treatment centers on the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin, while European doctors and scientists remained unconvinced about the efficacy of these treatments.

The media also outlined that contact tracing is at the heart of the anti-COVID measures adopted by Morocco in its fight against the virus, noting that contact tracing was a decisive factor to get the situation back under control.

BBC Journalist Katty Kay also commended Morocco’s vaccination campaign. During a live broadcast last week, Kay said her sister who lives in Morocco has received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Meanwhile, the reporter and her husband, who live in the US, have not received an injection yet.

“Some countries are ahead of the curve on distributing the vaccine” said the BBC reporter, referring to Morocco.

The comment Katty Kay made is not a mere comparison between the two countries. Morocco has indeed surpassed the expectations of many by securing large numbers of vaccines for Moroccans as well as for foreign residents.

Actually, foreign residents settled in Morocco benefit for free from the anti-Covid-19 vaccine in the same way as Moroccan citizens, following the instructions of King Mohammed VI.

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 AFR President, Committee and members expressed thanks to King Mohammed VI for “his generosity” that allowed French nationals in Morocco to be vaccinated in the same way as Moroccans. The Association noted in its statement that the inoculation acts and the follow-up are taking place in “excellent conditions”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also 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.

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 nearly 4 million persons, i.e. more than 10% of its total population, while nearly half a million people got their second shot. These figures rank Morocco in the top ten regarding the number of inoculations carried out across the country.

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

Morocco has started preparations for the vaccination campaign early in November and took part in vaccine clinical trials by China’s Sinopharm.

Morocco, which has ordered 66 million doses from Sinopharm and AstraZeneca, enough to inoculate 33 million people, already received 7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 1.5 million Sinopharm doeses, the latest 500,000 Sinopharm doses having been received this Sunday March 7.