Morocco maintains a leading position in terms of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, described as a success story by many international media which have largely commented on the progress of this operation, which made it possible to vaccinate 4.5 million people since its launch on Jan.28 by King Mohammed VI.
With 4.5 million people vaccinated, namely 11.5% of the population having received at least one dose of vaccine, Morocco ranks in the world’s top 10 in terms of vaccinated population per number of inhabitants, underlined Radio Télé Luxembourg (RTL).
“Faced with the evolution of the epidemic, Morocco differentiated itself from other African countries in 2020 with economic and social support measures. Today, Morocco is excelling thanks to a successful launch of a vaccination campaign,” wrote the French media in a story published on its website under the title “Coronavirus: how Morocco established itself in the world’s top 10 in terms of vaccination.”
“According to information provided by Slate, 4.5 million people, or 11.5% of the Moroccan population, have received at least one dose of vaccine. Thus, Morocco ranks in the world’s top 10 in terms of vaccinated population per number of inhabitants,” noted the private French radio, stating that within the EU, only Hungary and Finland are ahead of Morocco.
The Kingdom “is well ahead of large countries of the European Union whose vaccination rate barely exceeds 9%,” RTL said, noting that “the anticipation of the needs is one of the first keys to the success of vaccination in Morocco.”
“The Kingdom had already made an agreement with China to build a vaccine plant in the North African country in July 2020. Then on August 20, Rabat signed an agreement with Sinopharm for the delivery of 40.5 million doses of the Chinese vaccine. Then, on September 18, Morocco signed a second agreement with the British AstraZeneca for the delivery of 25.5 million additional doses,” RTL went on.
To avoid a supply disruption, the government is negotiating with Russia to receive 1 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, which was approved by the Ministry of Health on March 9, RTL said.
“But the success of the Moroccan vaccination campaign can also be explained from a logistical point of view. 3,000 vaccination centers have been set up (compared to 1,300 in France), 50% of which are in rural areas, not to mention the 10,000 mobile units,” said the French media outlet, highlighting the excellent supervision of the vaccination campaign.
In Morocco, “to make an appointment, one can simply send a free SMS with the ID number. Then, the date and place of the vaccination unit are sent immediately by SMS,” underlined RTL.
British paper The Daily Mail on its part published Friday a long article by journalist Glenys Roberts, hailing Morocco’s vaccination program as exemplary.
The journalist who surveyed the measures deployed by Morocco to fight the spread of the virus said “Morocco has had a good Covid.”
“By restricting flights and closing down individual towns except to emergency travel, it has been able to open up local economies, albeit with a 9pm curfew. Schools and shops have long been open. Restaurants and bars are buzzing despite social distancing,” she wrote, noting that lately these places have welcomed those overseas visitors still allowed to leave home with a negative Covid test and a hotel booking.
“And now they are predicting the whole country will have been vaccinated by the summer, in time for the tourist season proper,” the author of the article wrote, asserting that “the country must be one of the safest for a holiday — and one of the most accessible spots is right here in Tangier,” the city which has the luxury of two seas, the Atlantic to the west and the Mediterranean to the east.
Since the launch of the vaccination campaign, Morocco, which seeks to reach a collective immunity of 80% of the population (33 million), has managed to vaccinate 4.5 million people, while over 3.5 million have received a second dose of the vaccine. Foreign residents are also inoculated for free like Moroccan citizens.
Morocco has recorded a total 493,867 COVID-19 cases, including 8,793 deaths and 481,597 recoveries.