Morocco Considers Possible Fourth Covid Vaccine Dose Despite Minister’s Assurances

Obtaining the vaccine pass is conditional on taking a third vaccine dose administered within six months after the second dose. However, many Moroccans are wondering if they will be forced to get a 4th dose.

Khalid Ait Taleb stated that "there will be no fourth dose," stressing that "the situation is reassuring." "We must ensure that this level is maintained through awareness of the importance of respecting precautionary and preventive measures to deal with Covid-19," he recommends.

For him, even if the cold wave that is looming requires that precautions be taken, especially for people with chronic diseases, heart and lung diseases, the third dose is sufficient to protect them from the most severe form of the virus. But for Dr. Saïd Afif, member of the vaccination scientific committee, before any conclusion, it is important to find out if the virus will be seasonal. "If so, we will have to do a vaccine every year," he explains.

"We are in the presence of the Delta sub-variant which is 10% more contagious, but we do not yet know the effectiveness of the vaccine against this sub-variant; the studies have not yet been done," he adds, specifying that at the moment, "the committee has not recommended either a fourth or a fifth dose, nor the vaccination of children aged five and over."

To Moroccans who do not want a third dose, he is reassuring. "It’s a booster dose, like for hepatitis B for example, whose vaccination schedule includes three doses." He points out that "the problem with Covid-19 is that there is no long-lasting natural immunity, so vaccination is much more immunogenic than natural illness."

He also notes that vulnerable, elderly or chronically ill people, although doubly vaccinated, have fallen ill with Covid-19 to the point of being admitted to intensive care. "So it’s to protect them," he concludes.

The vaccination scientific committee is awaiting the results of the various ongoing studies before pronouncing on the need for a fourth dose. "Until now, the fourth dose has not been mentioned by the committee. It is not ruled out given the international and global evolution," said Dr. Abdelhakim Yahiane, director of the Population Directorate at the Ministry of Health.