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Rabat – Following the announcement of a possible delay of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the Serum Insite of India (SII), Morocco is set to receive 2 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine on March 30.
Le360, citing informed sources, reports that a shipment of 2 million additional doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, developed in China, is set to arrive in Morocco on Tuesday, March 30. The shipment will help Morocco to continue the successful national vaccination campaign.
The Moroccan newspaper quotes the Ministry of Health, which spoke of “the arrival of a significant amount of doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, at the end of March.”
The Sinopharm shipment will more than double the number of the Chinese vaccine that Morocco has received. So far, the North African country has received 1.5 million Sinopharm doses, and 7 million Oxford/AstraZeneca dosses.
The news comes at an opportune time, as the SII informed Morocco of a potential delay in the delivery of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Read also: Moncef Slaoui: ‘My Mother Was Vaccinated with AstraZeneca in Morocco’
Quoting a “source with direct knowledge of the matter,” Reuters reported that the institute has notified Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco that they should expect some delay in the next round of deliveries due to local demand in India.
India has to date confirmed approximately 11.6 million COVID-19 cases, with Reuters citing criticism leveled against Indian authorities “for donating or selling more doses than inoculations conducted at home, despite reporting the most number of coronavirus infections.”
As more countries rush to secure vaccines for domestic use, Morocco also ordered the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia and approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to diversify the supply for the country’s national vaccination campaign.
As of March 21, Morocco has inoculated 4,264,168 people with the first dose, and 2,423,380 people with the second dose. Morocco has seen a total of 491,709 COVID-19 cases and 8,767 deaths.
