Rabat – Morocco is set to receive 4.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, from three different manufacturers, in the coming days.
In addition to the 2 million Sinopharm doses set to arrive on March 30, Medias24, citing “informed sources,” reports on the delivery of additional 2.2 million vaccines in the near future.
Morocco ordered 1 million doses of the Russian-manufactured Sputnik V vaccine following the country’s authorization earlier in March. An additional shipment of 1.2 million COVAX vaccines (Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine produced in the organization’s South Korean facilities) is due to arrive in Morocco in the coming days.
The COVAX vaccines will be delivered as part of the global initiative fighting for a fairer distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. As part of its first round of vaccine allocation, COVAX will deliver, free of charge, 237 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine globally. The shipment of 1.2 million doses is a part of the total of 1,608,000 doses allocated to Morocco.
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Earlier in March, the Serum Insite of India (SII) warned of a potential delay of shipments of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines due to local demand in India. For its part, China has so far delivered only 2.5 million doses of Sinopharm, out of the 40 million promised. So it comes as no surprise that Morocco has decided to diversify its vaccine pool.
With the arrival of the additional 4.2 million doses, Morocco’s successful national vaccination campaign can carry on uninterrupted. Once the shipments arrive, Morocco will have secured 12.7 million doses of various COVID-19 vaccines.
As part of the national vaccination campaign, Morocco hopes to vaccinate 80% of its population. Morocco’s efforts to continue the vaccination campaign uninterrupted have not gone unnoticed, as international media shines a spotlight on the country’s success.
As of March 21, Morocco has inoculated 4,264,761 people with the first dose, and 2,516,742 people with the second dose. Morocco has seen a total of 491,834 COVID-19 cases and 8,769 deaths.
