Six hundred Moroccans volunteered to participate in clinical COVID-19 vaccine trials.
Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb reported on Tuesday that the results of clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine on Moroccan volunteers are “very positive.”
Ait Taleb made his statement at the House of Councilors while discussing Morocco’s participation in clinical trials for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
The minister stressed that the results of the clinical trials confirm the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine that Moroccans will receive in the country’s large-scale vaccination campaign.
Six hundred Moroccans volunteered to participate in the clinical vaccine trials.
The minister also announced that Morocco will be producing the vaccine in the near future.
Ait Taleb also declared that the ministry will organize communication campaigns to raise awareness about the COVID-19 vaccine across Morocco, stressing that it meets all safety conditions.
Emphasizing the success of the COVID-19 vaccine trials, the minister assured that a high-level commission of Moroccan scientists has been supporting the process to develop a vaccine locally.
Ait Taleb’s declaration on the safety of the vaccine echoes the statement of Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani made on November 12.
El Othmani said Morocco chose a “safe” and “effective” vaccine for the campaign it announced on November 9 under the instructions of King Mohammed VI.
Morocco’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign will concern citizens aged 18 and above, giving priority to medical staff, public authorities, security officers, and education staff, as well as the elderly and people with chronic conditions.
On November 10, the head of the biotechnology laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Rabat, Azeddine Ibrahimi, said 10 million doses of a vaccine against COVID-19 will be available in Morocco.
Ibrahimi believes that Moroccans understand the importance of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine even if they are not personally at risk of severe complications from the virus.
On November 13, the health minister said Moroccans will be among the first in the world to have access to the vaccine thanks to King Mohammed VI’s proactive approach to the pandemic.
