Rabat- The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has designated Morocco’s Pasteur Institute and Rwanda’s Biomedical Centre to serve as part of a network of ‘Excellence Centers’ for COVID-19 vaccination.
Located in Casablanca, the Pasteur Institute of Morocco is one of the country’s leading research centers dedicated to biology, micro-organisms, infectious diseases, and vaccines. It is co-funded by the French Pasteur Institute foundation and the Moroccan Ministry of Health.
“The African continent has vaccinated only about 5% of its population with COVID-19 vaccine and a 70% coverage target has been set by the World Health Organisation to bring the pandemic under control,” Africa CDC in a communique issued today.
“Pasteur Institute of Morocco and Rwanda Biomedical Centre have both demonstrated efficiency in COVID-19 vaccination rollout in their respective countries,” said Africa CDC.
The statement drew attention to Morocco and Rwanda’s effective response to the COVID crisis, pointing out that Morocco is close to reaching its vaccination targets while Rwanda has immunized about 25% of its eligible population.
Morocco seeks to vaccinate at least 80% of its population by the end of this year, whereas Rwanda is aiming to achieve a 40% vaccination rate by the end of 2021.
“We are very excited that Morocco is part of this Africa CDC Centers of Excellence’ network for COVID-19 vaccination to share and offer technical assistance if requested with other AU member states,” said Professor Maaroufi Abderrahmane, Director of the Institut Pasteur of Morocco.
The African CDC Centers of Excellence for COVID-19 vaccination are expected to provide capacity-building services to professionals from different member states across Africa and share best practices on management of vaccination centres, logistics of vaccine distribution, community engagement, and risk communication.
Africa CDC is a specialized technical institution of the African Union. Its goal is to strengthen the capacity and capability of Africa’s public health institutions as well as partnerships to detect and respond effectively to disease threats and outbreaks, based on data-driven interventions and programs.
