Government says it won't backtrack on vaccine pass mandate

Government Spokesperson Mustapha Baitas confirmed, this Thursday, November 4, that the government will not backtrack on its vaccine pass mandate.

Following the Moroccan Health Minister’s statement to parliament this week, where he doubled down on his ministry’s decision to compel citizens and residents to get vaccinated, Baitas said that “the decision is the only way our country can go back to living normal lives, like before the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Baitas reiterated that the government “has no intention of limiting citizens’ freedoms, on the contrary, the vaccine pass allows them more freedom to move around, travel both domestically and abroad.”

The official acknowledged the mandate may have seemed rushed in the eyes of the public, but he assured that “herd immunization and mass vaccination are the only way to lift the remaining restrictions.”

The Moroccan government issued its vaccine pass mandate this October 18, which entered into force less than a week later.

Moroccans, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, expressed their disapproval of the mandate. Hundreds of citizens took to the streets in protest across various cities in the country, challenging the government’s decision and claiming the regulation is an infringement on personal freedoms.

Despite the government’s steadfast decision to render vaccination compulsory, citizens are planning to keep protesting every Wednesday and Sunday until the mandate is annulled.

The newly elected government is aiming for an 80% national vaccination rate by the end of this year and is determined to enter 2022 having achieved herd immunity in the country.

Both the Health Minister and the Government Spokesperson’s statements seem to entail the vaccine pass mandate is here to stay.