The construction of a vaccine manufacturing plant anti-Covid-19 was launched to ensure self-sufficiency of the Kingdom in the field.
Le Monde with AFP
The government of Morocco has decided to reopen, as of February 7, the airspace of the country with flights to the kingdom, according to a statement released Thursday, January 27 in the evening, by the official agency MAP.
The authorities were under pressure from a tourism bankrupt and Moroccans stranded abroad when the borders were closed November 29, 2021 due to soaring Omicron variant.
“This decision comes in accordance with the legal provisions relating to the management of health emergency and following the recommendations of the Scientific and Technical Committee and taking into account the evolution of the epidemiological situation in the kingdom,” said the government. “To support the implementation of this decision, a technical commission is currently considering reviewing the measures to be adopted at the border posts and requirements for travelers, who will be announced later,” the statement said.
The border closure has hit hard the tourism industry, hotel and restaurant, a vital sector for the kingdom’s economy. Despite the announcement of a 2 billion dirham support plan (EUR 190 million), industry operators have expressed Wednesday to demand the reopening of the borders.
The closure of airspace had also raised strong protests from the large Moroccan diaspora, especially as some private jet companies operated links to Morocco at exorbitant prices – more than 10 000 per passenger one way – according to information sites and testimonials on social networks
vaccine Plant
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If the peak contaminations in varying Omicron seems to have been reached during the week of January 17 to 23, according to the Ministry of Health, the authorities are concerned, however an increase in cases in intensive care. With its 36 million inhabitants, the North African country relies on its vaccination campaign and the “national solidarity” to curb the epidemic: more than 23 million people have received a second dose
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The aim of the authorities is to immunize 80% of the population, some 30 million people, with Sinopharm vaccines and Pfizer-Biontech.
Thursday, King Mohammed VI inaugurated the construction site of a factory of anti-Covid-19 vaccine, due to start production in July in Benslimane, in the region of Casablanca, the economic capital.
Called Sensyo Pharmatech, this plant will be dedicated to “the production and vaccine syringe layout [anti-Covid-19 and other vaccines]” and will have “three production lines with a combined production capacity will reach 116 million units in 2024, “explains MAP reported. This company, in partnership with the Swedish company Recipharm, “will ensure the self-sufficiency of the kingdom in vaccines,” the agency said.
The aim is to produce between 2022 and 2025 “the active substance over twenty vaccines and biotherapeutics, including three vaccines against the coronavirus, covering over 70% of the kingdom’s needs and 60% of those Africa, “the agency reported.
Morocco has already started production of vaccine doses Chinese Sinopharm (over three million each month). This monthly production has reached five million doses from next month and more than twenty million end 2022.