UN meeting highlights Morocco's leadership in COVID-19 vaccination

Thanks to King Mohammed VI’s farsighted leadership, Morocco has become a “continental hub” for the supply, manufacture, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, said Khalid Ait Taleb, Minister of Health and Social Protection, at a high-level meeting on vaccine equity held Friday at UN headquarters in New York.

“Morocco is not only one of the first countries to have succeeded in the challenge of vaccination against the pandemic COVID-19, but it has also become a platform and a continental hub of manufacturing and distribution of vaccines,” said the minister at this meeting initiated by the presidency of the UN General Assembly.

He noted in this context that the Kingdom has one of the “most dynamic” pharmaceutical industries on the continent which allows it to aspire to the manufacture of a vaccine not only for its internal supply but also to be exported to the African continent.

It is in this sense that the Sovereign presided on January 27, 2022 the ceremony to launch the construction of a manufacturing plant for COVID-19 and other vaccines, said Ait Taleb in a pre-recorded statement, noting that this major project aims to strengthen Morocco’s health sovereignty, as well as contributing to the health security of African countries.

He further noted that the issue of health security must remain at the center of priorities of the African continent, stressing that the Kingdom “is more committed with its brotherly countries and friends to promote the development of South-South cooperation, especially in the health sector.”

“African solidarity is needed to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on African economies,” he insisted, adding that Morocco has continued in recent years to strengthen its historical relations with the continent by becoming an “undisputed leader.”

The Minister also said that Morocco’s “recognized” leadership in the fight against COVID-19 at the continental level and the approach it has adopted in the management of the pandemic, as well as the measures taken in the national vaccination campaign, have enabled the Kingdom to be one of five African countries to achieve the goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) to vaccinate more than 40% of the population.

Referring to the fight against COVID-19 in Africa, Ait Taleb noted that the continent, which has shown resilience, combativeness, and adaptability through strategies to limit the impact of the pandemic, still lags “seriously behind”, noting that international organizations are warning about this situation marked by “very low” vaccination rates.

Citing the WHO, the Minister said that only 102 million people living on the continent are fully vaccinated, or 7.5% of the total population. He further noted that this high-level UN meeting will enable the international community to exercise “due diligence” to accelerate vaccine production and distribution, remove barriers to deployment and commit to vaccine equity.