Morocco secures 65 million coronavirus vaccine doses from China, UK

Morocco has acquired 65 million coronavirus vaccine doses from China and the U.K., as it plans immunize 80 percent of its adult population.

Moroccan officials said China’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 Friday.

Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb first made the announcement at a Cabinet meeting Thursday.

The country has not yet received the vaccines, the health ministry said Friday.

Regulators are reviewing the Sinopharm vaccine’s documentation, and that vaccination program is expected to begin in the coming days, Mustapha Ennaji Moulay, head of the virology department at the Hassan II University in Casablanca and a member of the government’s COVID-19 scientific committee, told the AP.

Morocco is aiming to vaccinate 25 million of the country’s 36 million people free of charge under orders from King Mohammed VI, AP reported. The country will first administer vaccines to medical personnel, public authorities, security services, education workers and people suffering from chronic diseases.

Morocco has reported the second highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa, behind South Africa. Morocco has reported 428,000 cases and more than 7,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.