Morocco purchased 65 million doses of coronavirus vaccine from China and the United Kingdom, while planning to immunize 80% of its adult population.
Moroccan officials said Britain’s Sinopharm and Britain’s AstraZeneca vaccines will be used as the country prepares to launch its COVID-19 vaccination program, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb made the announcement for the first time at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The country has not yet received the vaccines, the health ministry said on Friday.
Regulators are reviewing documentation of the Sinopharm vaccine, and that vaccination program is due to begin in the next few days, said Mustapha Ennaji Moulay, head of the virology department at Hassan II University in Casablanca and a member of the government’s scientific committee COVID-19 AP.
Morocco plans to vaccinate 25 million of the country’s 36 million inhabitants free of charge, under orders from King Mohammed VI, the AP reported. The country will first administer vaccines to medical personnel, public officials, security services, education workers and people suffering from chronic diseases.
Morocco reported the second highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa, behind South Africa. Morocco recorded 428,000 cases and more than 7,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.