Morocco, First Covid-19 Vaccine Shipment from India Today

Covid-19 vaccine supply on the way from India to Morocco to arrive at 14:30 GMT+1 today Friday, January 22, 2021 under “Covishield” commercial contract.

India has sent the first shipment containing 2 million doses of Covid-19 “Covishield” vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and produced by Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine produced.

India has cleared the first commercial exports to Morocco and Brazil today Friday, January 22, 2020.

India’s choice for Morocco to be the first country with Brazil to receive the shipment stems from the deep and strong bilateral relations that unite Morocco to India.

Earlier this year, India had authorized the export of 6 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to Morocco. In addition to that, India had organized different training courses for health workers and executives from partner countries including Morocco under India’s technical and economic cooperation program (ITEC) prior to Vaccine reception.

On their part, Moroccan health officials have benefited from a training program prior to the delivery of the vaccines covering administrative and operational aspects organized January 19-20, 2021 for the benefit of staff responsible for immunization, cold chain, communication and data managers in the countries beneficiaries of the vaccine both nationally and locally.

India, “pharmacy of the world”, is one of the top pharmaceutical producing countries globally. It has held off exporting vaccine doses until it began its own domestic immunization program last week. India has also sent free supplies to neighboring countries including Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal.

India is considered one of the world’s largest producers of vaccines. 60% of the world’s vaccine production comes from India. In addition to that, Indian producers supply 1.5 billion doses per year for more than 150 countries. India is also the world’s largest supplier of DTP, BCG and measles vaccines. On their part, WHO purchases 70% of its essential vaccines from India.