Flemish Minister of Health Wouter Beke paid a visit to the vaccination center of Kampenhout-Sas in Flemish Brabant on Friday. There he also gave the weekly press moment about the vaccination campaign. “Over the past few weeks we have mobilized, sensitized and encouraged, with success. Mandatory vaccination is on the table, but many questions still need to be answered,” says Beke.
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“There has been talk about obligation during the inter-ministerial consultations. For me, mandatory vaccination is by no means a taboo.” Although much progress has been made without obligation, according to Wouter Beke: “Two weeks ago, 83 percent of healthcare staff in Flanders was vaccinated, today it is 92 percent,” Beke said in the press moment after his tour of the vaccination center.
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Physicians appear to be the most frequently vaccinated, of all professions, at 96.2 percent. Support staff in the care and welfare sector (96.3 percent) and pharmacists (94.9 percent) are also at the top. The groups with the lowest vaccination rates are social workers (91 percent), nurses and midwives (91.6 percent) and health care professionals (91 percent).
The other Flemish figures have also increased. Ninety percent of adults have already received one injection, about sixty percent have already been fully vaccinated. Young people are also doing well, 100,000 of the 140,000 of 16 and 17-year-olds have already received a first shot. The young people between 12 and 15 have all received their invitation and thirty percent of them already have their first vaccine. “July was the month of the second injection.”
“August will be the month in which many first shots will again be taken for two groups: the young people and those who initially doubted or even flatly refused. The latter will be able to record a catch-up moment. In the next two weeks, 700,000 shots will be taken, 665,000 of which will be second shots.
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A possible third shot is still being discussed. “We are waiting for the product description from Pfizer, among other things. Then we will be able to make decisions. This includes who should receive a third syringe or a booster syringe,” says Beke. Only then will it be possible to determine which vaccination centers will be used for this. “If that extra syringe comes, it will probably be before 2022,” says Wouter Beke.
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