Morocco to Launch New COVID Vaccination Campaign in Winter

Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Health has announced that it is planning a new vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 virus to prepare for an anticipated fifth wave of infections.

Explaining that it expects a large-scale spread of the seasonal flu virus and related respiratory illnesses in the upcoming cold season, the ministry said it has so far secured roughly 13 million doses of vaccine for winter.

As well as overseeing the creation of adequate stock of COVID vaccinations to fight any potential winter infection wave, the ministry said it also plans to speed up the vaccination program, which is now operating at a diminishing rate.

Of the 13 million vaccine doses now available for the winter season, there are 11.6 million doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm and 1.2 million doses of the American-German vaccine Pfizer, the ministry detailed.

It added, however, that the vaccines currently available in Morocco are only effective in preventing the development of severe COVID symptoms and reducing mortality rates.

According to the government, the current interval should be used to initiate a new vaccination program in order to attain a herd immunity rate of 80%.

While the source behind the expected fifth wave of COVID-19 is not yet clear, the government did not rule out the possibility that the coming infection surge will be carried by new mutants of the Omicron variety, similar to the prevalent sub-mutants BA.4 and BA.5 that are currently being spread.

The ministry’s statement comes as no new mutations have yet been revealed by specialists worldwide. The Omicron variant is still the dominating mutation worldwide with a 99% variant of the virus being spread, while the BA.5 mutations dominate sub-mutants by 74%.

While Morocco is making the third and fourth vaccine doses increasingly accessible for the vulnerable populations to prepare for the country’s fifth wave of COVID-19 contamination, most European countries are now bracing themselves for their eighth COVID wave.

In much of Europe, governments are also preparing to launch a new vaccination campaign as the new strain of coronavirus is likely to become a global issue again during the cold season.