Morocco received on Wednesday its first shipment of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines, the Ministry of Health said.

The first batch of vaccines developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd (Sinopharm) arrived at Casablanca airport and will be dispatched to vaccination locations throughout the country, the ministry said in a statement.

The North African country will launch in the coming days a mass vaccination campaign, after securing 66 million doses from China's Sinopharm and Britain's Oxford University/AstraZeneca, health officials said.

A total of 3,000 locations around the country are prepared to host this campaign.

Morocco on Friday approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.

"The vaccine meets all the conditions of quality, efficacy and safety, and does not present any potential side effects," the health ministry said.