In its bid to vaccinate 25 million people in the country for free, the Moroccan government has approved the use of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Morocco targets vaccination of 80% of its population as it has recorded 7,000 deaths from more than 400,000 cases.
The North African country has requested 66 million doses and has paid for it. The contracted companies are China’s Sinopharm and AstraZeneca/Oxford.
Health Minister, Khalid Ait Taleb had said that the Chinese deal also includes the transfer of technology and the siting of a production plant in Morocco.
Vaccinations in Morocco is set to last for at least three months with herd immunity being targeted.
The national government had set up a 9:00 p.m to 6:00 a.m curfew in the country’s worst-affected cities – Marrakech, Tangier, Agadir and Casablanca.
Morocco currently has over 20,000 active cases of COVID-19.