Morocco Aims to Avert National Lockdown as COVID-19 Vaccines Expected in December

"We are trying to avoid a national lockdown at all costs. That’s precisely why we’re asking citizens to respect the restrictive provisions and barrier measures. [...] That would be the worst-case scenario," he said in an interview with the Russian site Sputnik. The minister recalled that restrictive measures such as curfews or the confinement of the most affected regions have been taken to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the kingdom.

"Today, we are in control of the situation but what worries us the most is the increasing number of severe cases across the country in such a short time, which is hampering the capacity of our health system. Moreover, the epidemiological context is experiencing a lot of disparities," he said, stressing that the city of Casablanca is the one that is most worrying.

"The occupancy rate in intensive care reaches 68% (the alert threshold is 65%, editor’s note) - at the national level, this rate is around 40%. We have increased the reception capacity in intensive care by 300 beds at the International Fair of Casablanca. It should also be known that in the daily report, the situation in the economic capital conditions the figures of the country. 40% of positive cases are recorded there. In addition, the city accounts for 60% of severe cases and 30% of deaths are reported there," said Mr. Taleb.

As for the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, which will start around mid-December, he recalled that Morocco has targeted several companies and has, in the end, opted for the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm and the British-Swedish group Astrazeneca. "The clinical trials of their vaccines are very convincing. If all goes well, we will have the first deliveries by December. For the other laboratories, negotiations are still ongoing," the minister hinted. The kingdom’s ambition, he said, is to become a producer of vaccines of all kinds with a high-tech vaccine production platform in the Mohammed VI technological city of Tangier.

"This factory will allow the development of ’made in Morocco’ vaccines and ensure the self-sufficiency of the country while supplying the African continent and our Maghreb neighbors," he is convinced. In parallel, he said, "we are working hard to expand production at the Pasteur Institute of [Casablanca], which can also be a platform as part of public-private partnerships".