06 – 08 January, 2021

The Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday the issuance of the temporary authorization for emergency use of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, following the meeting of the national consultative commission on Monday, January 4. Marketed under the name “Covishield”, the injection is manufactured in India under licence from AstraZeneca.

According to a Ministry of Health document, of which the Desk holds a copy, the vaccine is “indicated for the active immunisation of persons over 18 years of age”. The same source adds that the injection is valid for six months and must be stored in the refrigerator, between 6°C and 8°C.

Contrary to what was claimed, when the memorandum was signed on September 18, AstraZeneca’s vaccine will no longer come from the R-Pharm laboratory, but rather from the Serum Institute of India. Morocco has ordered 25 million doses of this vaccine, in addition to 40 million units of Wuhan’s vaccine acquired from China’s Sinopharm.

For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.