Belgium currently only taking deliveries of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine
The Head of Belgium’s Vaccination Task Force Dirk Ramaekers has said that Belgium is currently only taking deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Speaking at Saturday’s weekly Vaccination Task Force press briefing Mr Ramaekers said that deliveries of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have come to an end and that deliveries of the Moderna vaccine are currently “on hold”.
The Moderna vaccines are being reserved for the COVAX programme. The COVAX programme redistributes coronavirus vaccines given by richer doner nations to nations in the developing world.
Belgium has sufficient stocks of coronavirus vaccine to see us through the rest of the current vaccination campaign. If deemed necessary, the provision a third vaccine dose to certain groups will also not be a problem.
Mr Ramaekers when on to say that the vaccination campaign in Belgium is starting to reach its conclusion. This is certainly the case in Flanders and the vaccination rate in Wallonia is also relatively high. Meanwhile, in the Brussels-Capital Region extra efforts will be taken to drive up the vaccination rate that is far lower than in the rest of the country. Mr Ramaekers said that this is supported wholeheartedly by the Vaccination Task Force. “In Brussels too, 70% of people vaccinated remains our goal”.
After Friday’s meeting of the Consultative Committee the Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Flemish liberal) said that 70% of people must be immunised in every municipality in the country.
The speed at which the vaccination campaign can progress is no longer dependent on the speed at which vaccines can be delivered, but rather on how many people want to get a jab. “Since July willingness to get vaccinated has been the determining factor”, Mr Ramaekers told the press briefing.