The controversy surrounding the side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine continues. After a long silence, the Ministry of Health finally provided new details on the cases recorded in Morocco three years after the start of the administration of this serum, which has now been withdrawn from the markets. In a parliamentary correspondence, Health Minister Khaled Ait Taleb indicated that 54,423 cases of side effects have been recorded in Morocco.
In a letter sent to the PJD MP, the minister reminded that 13,542 people who received the vaccine declared suffering adverse effects, including 211 cases considered serious according to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Khaled Ait Taleb recalled that there have been no cases of fatal thrombosis in the kingdom. He ruled that side effects are a normal phenomenon that can sometimes arise when the immune system reacts to the injection of vaccines into the bloodstream causing a strong flow of blood to stimulate the action of immune cells. Therefore, it can cause adverse effects in some cases, he said.
The minister assured that his department had set up a side effect monitoring system with a complaint platform. Regarding those affected, they benefited from regular medical monitoring and free care.
Recall that the State was ordered by the Administrative Court of Rabat to compensate a victim of Guillain Barré syndrome caused by the injection of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a causal relationship was established. The Government, deemed responsible by the courts, decided to appeal this decision.
Recall that Morocco launched its national vaccination campaign against COVID-19 on January 28, 2012. Since then, 24,924,887 people have been vaccinated, of which 23.4 million have received a second injection and 6.8 million a third. 8.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered.