Morocco officially authorized emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm, Morocco's Ministry of Health said in a statement on Friday. 

"The vaccine meets all the conditions of quality, efficacy and safety, and does not present any potential side effects," said the statement. The approval is valid for 12 months. 

The country will begin a nationwide vaccination rollout next week, prioritizing groups who are the most vulnerable to the virus including medics, other frontline workers and the elderly. 

The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from Sinopharm will arrive in Morocco on January 27, the ministry said earlier. 

The Sinopharm vaccine was tested on people in Morocco from last August through November, and proved to be "safe and effective" with no severe side effects reported, Moroccan Health Minister Khalid Ait Talebaccording said last year. 

The country received 2 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, becoming the first African country to get a large enough shipment to start rolling out a nationwide free immunization program, according to Reuters.

As of Saturday, Morocco has 465,769 COVID-19 cases, 441,693 recoveries and 8,128 deaths.