Morocco wins vaccine supply battle

Morocco has maintained since January an uninterrupted national vaccination campaign thanks to steady supply of doses at a context marked by fierce competition.

Morocco, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, took a series of pro-active and protective measures including signing deals with AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccine manufacturers to make sure the country is given shipment priority.

“We have every right, today, to celebrate Morocco’s achievements in the ‘battle for vaccines’ – which is far from being an easy one – as well as the successful roll-out of the national vaccination campaign and the citizens’ massive engagement in it,” said King Mohammed VI in a speech marking the Throne Day.

Morocco went further in erecting “medical autonomy” as a lever of the “country’s strategic security,” said the king, pointing out to the project signed recently to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines and other jabs in the short term in Morocco.

So far 30% of Moroccans are fully vaccinated and 37% have received the first dose as Morocco plans to extend inoculation to the youth aged 18 years old, marking a milestone in the process of achieving herd immunity.

In total 23.8 million doses have been administered amid a surge in cases due to the high mobility during the summer holiday and the spread of new and more contagious coronavirus variants.

Morocco has also diversified its vaccine supplies, largely composed of Sinopharm and AstraZeneca, with 300,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine and expects in the coming days to receive 2 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech.

On Sunday, Morocco received another batch of Covid-19 vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm composed of 1 million doses.

Authorities have tightened control to ensure respect of protective measures including banning weddings and other gatherings while enforcing distancing in public places.