Morocco receives new batch of 0.5 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine this Monday

Morocco has received this Monday 500,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine as it continues its campaign to reach herd immunity, Moroccan media reported.

Earlier, Morocco announced that China will supply it with 10 million doses in April and May.

The new batch will allow Morocco to maintain the vaccination momentum, which earned the Kingdom congratulations from the World Health Organization and admiration of several other international organizations and media.

Just before the arrival of this new batch, the Ministry of Health issued a statement announcing that the national vaccination campaign would be generalized to citizens aged between 55 and 60 years.

Morocco has ordered 66 million doses from AstraZeneca and Sinopharm but pressure on manufacturers complicated Rabat’s plan to carry out a vaccination campaign within three months.

To deal with global scarcity Morocco has ordered 1 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine and expects 1.2 million doses of the South Korean-made AstraZeneca under the Covax vaccine sharing program.

 

The country has so far vaccinated more than 5 million people, while some 4 million have received the first jab. More than 90% of doses administered in the African continent were inoculated in Morocco.

However, the surge of new virus strains has pushed the government to maintain the health emergency and several preventive measures including a night curfew during Ramadan.