A new batch of AstraZeneca’s anti-COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Casablanca, Morocco, from India on February 24, according to converging local reports. The 1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine were delivered aboard a Royal Air Maroc (RAM) aircraft, flying from Mumbai, India.
The Vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the largest vaccine producer in the world. The new batch arrives as 2,911,635 people in Morocco have received their first dose of vaccination, whereas 37,310 have received their second dose.
This was Morocco’s third batch of AstraZeneca vaccines. Previously, the country received 2 million doses on January 25 and 4 million doses on February 11. It is unclear when Morocco will receive the next shipment of the India-produced vaccine, as the SII has been directed to prioritize India’s vaccine needs.
Morocco has also received two shipments of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine. The first batch of 500,000 doses arrived on January 27, and the other 500,000 vaccines arrived on February 16. Morocco is currently leading Africa’s vaccination efforts, boasting 94% of the continent’s vaccinated population.
Morocco’s vaccination efforts are laudable, the rest of the continent is not doing so well due to “vaccine hoarding” by the world’s richest nations. The epidemiological situation in Morocco remains stable, as Morocco’s health authorities detected only 419 new COVID-19 infections on February 24. The North African country has recorded a total of 482,128 infections since the pandemic reached Morocco almost a year ago. Morocco began its national vaccination campaign on January 28. Since then, new daily infections have practically halved.
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