Anti-coronavirus Vaccination: Traceability and Cold Chain at Heart of Organizational System

Sophisticated logistical and IT techniques have been used to ensure the success of the national vaccination campaign against the new coronavirus (covid-19), with particular emphasis on issues of traceability and cold chain, sources said on Wednesday in Casablanca, on the sidelines of the reception of the first batch of the vaccine from the Chinese pharmaceutical group Sinopharm.

Officials from the Ministry of Health and Almav Logistics, present in the premises of the Autonomous Refrigeration Authority of Casablanca (RAFC), where the vaccine batch control procedure took place, explained the different procedures adopted to guarantee the success of this campaign, as well as the steps to be taken before the distribution to all regions of the Kingdom.

“We have mobilized all the logistical means and IT techniques to guarantee the success of this campaign throughout the national territory and this, within the framework of a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Health and others stakeholders”, underlined, in a press statement, Yassine Adib, managing director of Almav logistics, the company in charge of the logistics component.

“We brought the speed WMS solution for inventory management. We also benefit from the support of carriers in the private sector”, he said.

Adib also emphasized product traceability, as well as the need for constant monitoring of the complexity of the cold chain.

For his part, Najem Basmail, Pharmacist in charge for the storage and distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, said that this batch will undergo control relating to the required temperature, the quality of the product, the quantity declared by the Chinese company and the expiration date.

Samples will then be taken to send them to the national laboratory for validation, before starting the distribution which is scheduled for this very day, he added.

Morocco received on Wednesday the first batch of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19. The acquisition of this vaccine is an implementation of the High directives of HM King Mohammed VI to launch a large-scale national vaccination campaign in order to immunize all components of the Moroccan people and achieve collective immunity, allowing to reduce the cases of contamination and fatalities caused by the epidemic.

The Sinopharm vaccine, which has obtained the authorization of the health authorities of the country of origin, has shown its effectiveness and lack of any potential side effects, as evidenced by pre-clinical and clinical data, thus allowing it to obtain the authorization of the Moroccan Ministry of Health after unanimous opinion by the National Vaccination Commission.

The Kingdom of Morocco has acquired sufficient quantities of vaccines for 33 million people (66 million doses). It had already received a first batch of the British AstraZeneca vaccine, manufactured in India, which was distributed to all regions ahead of the launch of the national vaccination campaign.