Morocco Joins Global Effort in COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials

Morocco announced on Thursday, August 20, 2020, the conclusion of two cooperation agreements on clinical trials of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine with the Chinese laboratory CNBG. Following this announcement, there is more news to reassure the population. Professor Kamal Marhoum El Filali dispels the doubts on this subject.

It is noted from his statement that for the development of a vaccine or drug, there are a certain number of phases to be respected for its effectiveness. First, there is the preclinical stage which consists of testing the vaccine on animals in order to see its interest in the treatment of the pathology. Then, it is necessary to move on to the clinical phase comprising several stages. Here in particular, the product must be tested for tolerance and, if it is tolerated by the body, the quantification phase follows. If these stages are validated and favorable, it is then necessary to move on to phase 3, clarifies the professor.

Morocco is currently in this phase 3 where the vaccine must be tested on a much larger category of volunteers, even thousands of people. Morocco has 600 volunteers for this phase 3. Compared to other countries, this figure is low, but there is a lack of volunteers in the kingdom even if the risk exists in the trials, notes the expert. The important thing is that this number found is accepted by the Chinese side and that the reliability of the trial results is guaranteed, explains le Matin.

Regarding the results, we will have to wait and follow the evolution of the volunteers’ condition. Thus, to date, there have been no serious side effects in the volunteers. Similarly, they do not receive any compensation except to reimburse travel expenses or compensation for the expenses caused by this specific process. For phase 3, the volunteers are divided into two groups. For the first, the real vaccine under test is injected. The second receives the placebo, a substance without an active ingredient but whose intake can have a beneficial psychological effect on the patient.

Morocco signed, after China, on September 18, a memorandum of understanding for the acquisition of an anti-Covid-19 vaccine produced by the Russian company R-Pharm and developed in Oxford by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. It will indeed allow Morocco to have one of the two vaccines in a few months, according to the expected results.

It should be noted that to carry out this project, specialized teams have been trained within the Ibn Rochd University Hospital in Casablanca, the Ibn Sina University Hospital and the Rabat Military Hospital, which are monitoring 200 volunteers each, notes Le Matin.