Morocco Prepares for National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign, Health Minister Urges Public Cooperation

During a digital seminar organized by the Moroccan Association of Medical Sciences and the National Federation of Health on Thursday evening under the theme "Vaccination, the safe and effective means to eliminate the emerging corona virus", the minister indicated that the vaccination process "represents the hope of overcoming this health crisis and its consequences". Regarding the delay in the start of this campaign announced for last month, Khalid Ait Taleb specified that "it was very necessary to wait for the licenses that would allow the use of the vaccines, much to the chagrin of some who see a delay in the schedule," he said. He added that "the scientific committees have been keen to follow all the details of the epidemic and the stages of development and manufacture of the vaccines".

As for the campaign itself, the Minister of Health stated that Morocco has ordered about 60 million doses for three thousand vaccination points across the national territory, in addition to mobile units. University hospital centers (CHU) will be vaccination points for the health professionals working there. He reassured that all measures have been taken for the success of the campaign. Moreover, "a set of precautions has been adopted to avoid the transmission of the infection, during the vaccination process which will be supervised by health professionals".

According to the minister, the vaccination will be done in two stages. In the first stage, it will be a matter of vaccinating health professionals, military personnel, security forces, local authorities and those in education. The second stage is that of the population according to their age groups. However, the minister calls on Moroccans to remain vigilant, to continue to respect preventive measures, as it is necessary to "respect them more closely until the vaccination period is over and the desired herd immunity is achieved and antibodies are created to allow a return to normal life before Covid," he insists.

For Khalid Ait Taleb, the month of Ramadan could be spent without health restrictions, but for that, the vaccination campaign would have to take place under the best conditions. But with the observed delay, this seems somewhat compromised, the same source indicates.