Morocco Restricts Flu Vaccine Access, Requiring Doctor’s Prescription

At a time when several associations, including the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH), are denouncing the reduced number of vaccines ordered by the Ministry of Health, the delivery of this precious product will be done in pharmacies only upon presentation of a medical prescription. This condition set by the supervisory ministry has not failed to elicit a reaction from the profession.

Thus, the Confederation of Pharmacists’ Unions of Morocco (CSPM), notes that the obligation of the prescription will not help encourage the population to get vaccinated against seasonal flu, in accordance with the recommendations of the WHO. For their part, the kingdom’s pharmacies have in particular denounced the high cost of the vaccine set at 400 DH (including the doctor’s fees, the vaccine and the vaccination act), which could exclude a large part of the population.

On another note, the Confederation of Pharmacists’ Unions of Morocco denounced the inability of the supervisory ministry to secure the country’s supply of sufficient quantities of vaccines, despite the difficult context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, "The supply this year of Vaxigrip does not exceed 300,000 doses compared to 600,000 in 2019," the CSPM specifies in the press release. Faced with this situation, the Confederation concludes that "this mandatory medical prescription is a roundabout way for the Department of Health to better rationalize the distribution of vaccines whose supply is limited".

It should be noted that the vaccine against seasonal flu carries two viral subtypes of influenza A and influenza B. Thus, unlike last year’s trivalent vaccine, this year’s is quadrivalent, and therefore attacks four strains of the virus. But also, it "includes an additional B strain, and thus offers, according to its manufacturer, broader protection," concludes the press release.