Morocco’s health ministry recommends to carry on using AstraZeneca vaccine

RABAT – Morocco’s health ministry on Wednesday recommended to continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine in vaccination campaigns, following a meeting on the issue of the National Advisory Pharmacovigilance Commission.

The Commission met on Wednesday to study and assess the side effects regarding coagulation disorders and thromboembolic events in people inoculated with AstraZeneca vaccine, the ministry said in a release.

The members of the Commission unanimously confirmed that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks and that there is no direct link between these side effects and the use of this vaccine.

The health ministry stressed that it was regularly monitoring the safety of the coronavirus vaccines in the North African kingdom by monitoring and analysing side effects cases, scientific evidence and available data on this subject at the national and international level, in coordination with health and regulatory authorities.

The ministry urged all citizens and health practitioners to inform the National Center of Pharmacovigilance through the following website of the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines: https://www.liqahcorona.ma/fr/evenements_indesirables

No deaths have been recorded among AstraZeneca vaccine recipients have been recorded so far as a result of complications related to side effects of the vaccine, according to the same source.

"Protecting the health of all citizens is one of its priorities and no effort will be spared. Any new data regarding vaccines and their safety will be announced through official channels," the statement concluded.

The World Health Organization's European director Hans Kluge said on Thursday that the benefits of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine far outweigh any risks, and countries across Europe should continue to use it to help save lives in the pandemic.

Kluge noted that Europe's medicines regulators are investigating a small number of cases of blood clots in the region that have prompted around a dozen EU governments to suspend us of the AstraZeneca shot.

"As of now, we do not know whether some or all of the conditions have been caused by the vaccine or by other coincidental factors," he said.

"At this point in time, however, the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine far outweigh its risks and its use should continue, to save lives," he added.