Like in many countries, misinformation about Covid-19 has circulated widely in Morocco during the pandemic. Much of it came from the US and Europe.
I
In early April 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic was spreading across the world, two French doctors suggested on live television that scientists test the tuberculosis vaccine on Africans to see if it might work against Covid-19.
Reporting for this story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. It is the second article on vaccine hesitancy in Morocco. You can read the first article on Western Sahara, North Africa's Covid-19 "black hole" here.
"If I can be provocative, shouldn't we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?" said Jean-Paul Mira, head of intensive care at Cochin hospital in Paris. "A bit like as it is done elsewhere for some studies on Aids. In prostitutes, we try things because we know that they are highly exposed and that they do not protect themselves."
The other doctor, Camille Locht, head of research at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, agreed: "You are right. We are actually thinking about leading a study in parallel in Africa."
The video spread quickly and the two doctors were accused of racism, with Africans across the continent insisting "we are not lab rats". African celebrities were quick to condemn the doctors' statements, including the Ivorian football star Didier Drogba and Cameroonian soccer star Samuel Eto'o.
The Moroccan...
The Department of the Attorney General says the man claiming to be the state’s chief technology officer at national conferences and on online platforms is not affiliated with the state of Hawaii a...