News & Analysis: Morocco
“Morocco is gearing up for an ambitious COVID-19 vaccination program, aiming to vaccinate 80% of its adults in an operation starting this month that’s relying initially on a Chinese vaccine that has not yet completed advanced trials to prove it is safe and effective.”
“The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent has reached 2,248,269 as of Sunday afternoon. The most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and Ethiopia”
“The city of Agadir began welcoming tourists in October, but the prefecture is now on lockdown as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. Local authorities in the prefectures and provinces of Agadir, Taroudant, and Tiznit, in Morocco’s central Souss-Massa region, extended lockdown measures this weekend in a bid to curb rising COVID-19 case counts.”
“The Ministry of Health announced on Friday that the vaccine Morocco will use in the upcoming national COVID-19 vaccination campaign is from Sinopharm, a state-owned Chinese pharmaceutical company.”
“A palpable sense of anxiety is emerging from a number of African capitals that when COVID-19 vaccines are finally available, poorer, lesser-developed countries are going to once again be at the end of the line. We saw this earlier this week when Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta suddenly pivoted away from depending entirely on European vaccines, to now looking to Asia for support.”
“Morocco has received €1.3 billion in German financial support which evidences the close cooperation ties between the two countries, Morocco’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Out of that total of 1.387 billion euros, Germany had donated €202 million euros, while 717 million went to the anti-COVID-19 fund and the state-owned national guarantee fund.”
“Tough conditions are straining profits of Moroccan banks and increasing the risk of bad loans, analysts and bankers say. But they also note that the banks enjoy high levels of liquidity, and that measures by the Banque Al-Maghrib, the central bank, to support the economy and to reduce the adverse effects on lenders are helping shore up resilience.”
“Moroccan doctors have long fought for better-quality facilities, technology, wages, and working conditions. Protests have recurred year after year with similar demands every time, but there are also far fewer doctors in the nation than needed, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The embassy said international travelers from ‘high-risk’ countries must have negative COVID-19 results of a PCR test conducted within 72 hours of arriving in Spain.”
“On November 11, Morocco’s Ministry of Health publicized the reference prices for COVID-19 treatment and launched an online platform to receive complaints about private clinics that violate the regulated fees. According to the ministry’s document, people who catch or suspect having caught COVID-19 in Morocco can visit private clinics for a medical consultation for $9-$16.”
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