Morocco Considers Third Covid-19 Vaccine Dose for High-Risk Groups

An official statement from the Ministry of Health will confirm the measure in the coming days, announces Said Afif, a member of the Committee and president of the Moroccan Society of Medical Sciences. Those concerned are frontline personnel (doctors, nurses and education...), people with chronic diseases, and people aged 65 and over. This measure comes after several cases of contamination were recorded among doctors and medical staff, despite their vaccination.

The injection of a third vaccination, which has become a consensus measure in scientific circles, is not, however, well received within the population, given that the anti-Covid-19 vaccines have proven effective, even against severe forms of Covid. This third dose is also presented as a solution to the decline in immunity in the target categories from the sixth month after vaccination. "We impose the third dose when we realize that the previous two doses are not sufficient to fully protect people against the risk of contracting the disease," explains the expert in health systems and policies, adding that the new Delta variant and the risk of the emergence of new strains require additional protection. However, observes Tayeb Hamdi, the third dose should not be confused with the booster shot that completes the two-dose vaccination process.

This third dose, for now limited to vulnerable people and frontliners, will have to be generalized to all vaccinated categories of the population, Hamdi recommended, indicating that "in this case, it would be necessary to go step by step, first, it is recommended to start with people aged 50 and over, before including the rest of the population." However, this option is linked to the vaccination rate, he said, suggesting that the generalization of the third dose should only take place after the vaccination of the entire target population.