Morocco: First Compensation in the "AstraZeneca" Case

A Moroccan court has issued the first ruling of its kind related to "COVID-19 vaccine complications," marking an unprecedented step. The newspaper "Hespress" reported that the Administrative Court in Rabat reached a final ruling requiring the Moroccan state (Ministry of Health and Social Protection) to pay the plaintiff a compensation of 250,000 dirhams (approximately 25,000 dollars), covering expenses up to the awarded amount, while rejecting other requests. The case was registered with the Administrative Court in June 2022, and the ruling took about two years to be issued, providing justice for the plaintiff who suffered facial and lower limb paralysis after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. It is worth noting that the European Medicines Agency revoked the COVID-19 vaccine authorization from AstraZeneca on Wednesday, based on a request from the company for commercial reasons. The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine received approval from the European Medicines Agency for the first time in January 2021, but within weeks, concerns about the vaccine's safety grew, leading dozens of countries to suspend its use after unusual blood clots were discovered in vaccine recipients.