Morocco Intensifies COVID Surveillance as New Variants Emerge Globally

"Thanks to the SARS-CoV2 (Covid-19) genomic surveillance system set up by the Moroccan Ministry of Health, we are monitoring the appearance of new variants," said Prof. Azeddine Ibrahimi, director of the biotechnology laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Rabat, to the MAP. To date, only the British variant has been detected in Morocco, assures the Professor, urging his fellow citizens to strictly respect the restrictive measures, to limit travel and avoid gatherings, to maintain barrier gestures and to accelerate the vaccination campaign.

The academic welcomes the public authorities for the measure relating to the closure of borders with several countries given that the Indian variant is currently circulating in a dozen countries. And Professor Azeddine Ibrahimi to emphasize that the arrival this week of thousands of doses will allow Morocco to stabilize the situation and consolidate the gains, thanks to its anticipatory and participatory approach, in order to quickly emerge from this health crisis.

"The Indian variant is spreading faster and the two mutations that make it up would cause a decrease in immunity," he said, while noting that some studies carried out for the two mutations that make up this variant have revealed a decrease in immunity.

However, the university professor nuances, a recent study carried out in Israel with the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine proves conclusive, as this vaccine allows an immune reaction against the Indian variant even though immunity would be reduced.