Morocco will launch the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus on Thursday Jan.28 and King Mohammed VI will give the effective start of the campaign, the royal office announced in a statement on Wednesday evening.
“After receiving different batches, the Covid-19 vaccine is available in sufficient quantity in the Kingdom of Morocco to start the national vaccination campaign in the best conditions”, said the Royal Office press release.
Morocco has so far received two million doses of Covishield developed by UK-based AstraZeneca and Oxford University and a first batch of half a million doses of China’s Sinopharm.
in accordance with the King’s instructions, this vaccination campaign will be free for all citizens, the statement said, adding that the campaign will unfold gradually and will benefit all Moroccan citizens and foreign residents aged between 17 and over 75.
The statement said the vaccination campaign will make it possible to achieve the expected levels of collective immunization and protect the population against the pandemic.
The country plans to vaccinate 25 million people, starting with health workers, security forces, teachers and people in vulnerable health condition. This will require 50 million doses to guarantee collective immunity.
All those who fall into these categories can request an appointment online or by SMS and will be called for vaccination. Two shots are required with an interval of 21 days for Sinopharm and 28 days for AstraZeneca.
The vaccines will be administered in 2,880 fixed points (health centers, universities, prisons, workplaces) and 7,000 mobile points, according to the web portal created by the Ministry of Health.
