Morocco Expands COVID-19 Vaccination to Homeless, Undocumented, and Street Children

The vaccination of these categories of people is intended, according to the Ministry of Health, to revitalize the vaccination process in Morocco. But reaching all these people poses several practical and technical problems. This is actually the reason why the vaccination campaign has not yet reached these people. How to identify them, and convince them to get vaccinated?

The task seems complicated for the Ministry of Health, which estimates that there are more than 30,000 children living on the streets. It is difficult to find their legal guardian, said Nissrine Laouzi, president of the association Koulna Maak which provides medical care and meals to the homeless in Rabat.

As for the adults, they are mostly homeless, they do not have an identity card, a mandatory document to get vaccinated and follow up the vaccination in two doses. "We are talking about people without a fixed address, we are talking about people who live in the forest and on the roofs. Are they aware of the existence of this vaccine or the procedure to get vaccinated?" wondered Nissrine Laouzi.

She has many questions about the strategies the ministry will deploy to succeed in this vaccination. "Are they going to take them to get vaccinated by force when they are not sensitized to vaccination? This is a category of people who may not even be aware of the existence of the Covid-19 pandemic or its seriousness, let alone vaccination," added the volunteer.

"We are ready to collaborate and help, we have no problem doing this. Moreover, the advantage is that the people we work with are identified. It will be easier for the ministry to collaborate with us, because we know where the homeless are, they know us and trust us," said Nissrine Laouzi.

For now, the Ministry of Health has not yet outlined its strategy. Contacted by Hespress, the ministry was unable to provide more details on this operation. In the circular, Khalid Ait Taleb notes that the elements presented are not exhaustive.