Preparations Underway for Morocco’s Mass Vaccination Campaign

Morocco’s preparations for the launch of the mass national vaccination campaign against COVID-19 are underway, the country’s Minister of Health Khaled Ait Taleb announced in a speech read on his behalf during a teleconference on Thursday 7 January.

In partnership with several other professional and civil organizations, the Moroccan Association of Medical Sciences and the National Federation of health organized the conference under the theme “All mobilized for the success of the national vaccination campaign against COVID-19.”

During the conference, the minister announced that the vaccination campaign will take place in the coming days, arguing that vaccinating a sizable segment of the population is the only way to conclusively combat the pandemic.

The minister explained that the campaign delay was necessary to wait for authorizations and to take all the important actions regarding the phase of clinical trials and monitoring of the situation to ensure that Moroccans receive a safe and effective vaccine.

Ait Taleb highlighted Morocco’s efforts in taking the necessary measures and the series of precautions to avoid transmission of infection during the vaccination operation which will be supervised by health professionals to guarantee the success of the national campaign.

The minister said that more than 3,000 vaccination points have been set up, noting the role university hospitals will play in the vaccination campaign. Institutions such as the Ibn Rochd University Hospital, which has 6,000 health professionals, will be critical to the success of Morocco’s vaccination efforts, he explained.

Last week, the minister called on Moroccans to fully respect all planned measures in order to ensure a successful vaccination campaign against COVID-19, without revealing the exact date of the campaign launch.

Noting that the intended herd immunity could only be achieved if more than 60% of the population is vaccinated, he explained that Moroccans will need to go through two vaccination phases, separated by two jabs, to avoid contracting the virus.

On January 8, Morocco’s government council has also extended the country’s state of emergency for the tenth time until February 10 at 6 p.m. The measure includes partial lockdown in neighborhoods and cities, travel bans, and night curfews, among other precautions.