Almost 30,000 Belgians collected free iodine tablets from pharmacies on Monday
On Monday, 29,179 Belgians collected free iodine tablets from the country’s pharmacies. A total of 32,483 packs of iodine tablets were distributed in just one day. This is the third highest figure since the government launched a nuclear risk information campaign and made iodine pills available for free from pharmacies in 2018. The figures come Belgian Pharmacists' Union.
The Pharmacists’ Union’s Michael Storme told the press agency Belga that rush on iodine pills began when news broke that there was fighting in the vicinity of the former Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine. This was followed on Sunday by the news that the Russian President Vladimir Putin had the Russian Federation’s nuclear deterrents alert.
The last time that Belgians went to pharmacies to pick up free iodine tablets in such numbers was in spring 2018. The pills are meant be taken preventively in the event of a nuclear disaster to prevent thyroid cancer. The iodine tablets are distributed in packs of ten pills. This is sufficient for a family of four.