Morocco Set to Receive First Sputnik V Vaccine Shipments from Russia

In total, three Royal Air Maroc flights will be operated on April 30, May 7 and May 14, for the transport of the batches of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. No official source has so far confirmed the information. Dr. Moulay Said Afif stated to H24info that "the ministry only communicates when the cargo is on board the plane and it is the only one authorized to do so".

In a statement to EFE on March 11, the Minister of Health, Khalid Aït Taleb, had stated that "Morocco has ordered 1 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine" and that "the doses will be delivered to the kingdom in two batches. The first batch in March, the second in April, depending on the availability of the Russian manufacturer". Two days earlier, he had discussed with the officials of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in the hope of reaching an agreement on the terms of the commercial contract concerning the marketing of the Sputnik V vaccine.

The Russian vaccine is 91.6% effective against symptomatic forms of the disease, The Lancet had reported. More than 40 countries, including Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, Russia, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, India and Venezuela have approved Sputnik V in the fight against Covid-19.