Morocco Plans Ambitious COVID-19 Vaccination Drive for 20 Million Adults

Even if some are reluctant and are asking questions about this vaccine, the majority of Moroccans welcome the project favorably, eager to get out of this health crisis that has lasted too long. It is not mandatory but could become necessary for anyone wishing to leave the country.

In the cafes of Casablanca, one of the cities most affected by the pandemic, the Covid-19 vaccination campaign is discussed all day long. The fact that the vaccine is supplied by a country that has contaminated the world gives weight to the discussions. Opinions remain divided on the reliability and effectiveness of the vaccine. Speaking to RFI, Oussama, a 23-year-old VTC driver, is one of the reluctant ones: "We don’t know what the real negative effects of this vaccine or the side effects of this vaccine are. And we won’t be able to see that until a year, two years or three years, so I’m not too confident about that."

Moroccans want more information about the vaccine. They want above all to be reassured that in wanting to defeat one evil, they do not end up creating another much more virulent one. This is the case of Ghali, a dynamic 25-year-old executive. He doesn’t even consider getting vaccinated. "My brother who is in Paris has health insurance, and he still hasn’t been vaccinated, so I can’t see myself being vaccinated here, when we’re worse off than France."

Many Moroccans think that this vaccination story is a real trap that will close in on Africa. This is the case of Nadia, a 29-year-old waitress and mother. She fears that the continent will be used as an open-air laboratory: "We are the third world, for me we are guinea pigs, for me it is an experiment that we will do and then we will have results. But for me, it is out of the question that I do it, neither me nor my daughters." They are thousands of Moroccans who think this way and who do not envisage being vaccinated under any circumstances. Perhaps they will change their minds after the first phase dedicated to frontline personnel, the same source specifies.