For weeks, Belgium’s vaccine rollout has been the object of scorn.
The country has 579,000 doses currently lying unused in a freezer, even though authorities say they largely abandoned the practice of keeping reserve doses in stock for a second vaccination shot as supplies are “stable.” Belgium ranks fourth from the bottom in Europe when measured by the percentage of people who have gotten at least one shot, coming in at just 7.8 percent as of this past weekend, according to POLITICO’s tracker.
The problem of the unused doses is hardly new. Last month, Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke admitted that to “delays in the process that are not acceptable,” according to Belgian media.
But officials vow change is coming soon. In fact, they’re raising hopes that every interested adult can get their first jab by July 11, an annual Flemish holiday. It’s an ambitious target — the country’s current pace wouldn’t get 70 percent of Belgian adults vaccinated until June 2022.
Yet with the number of available vaccines set to steadily increase in the second quarter of 2021, it might just be possible — barring further setbacks, of course, a big caveat given that vaccine deliveries have yet to meet expectations. Belgium also recently opted not to temporarily pause distribution of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine even as scores of other European countries did, perhaps allowing it to catch up a bit.
The country has now entered phase 1B of its vaccination strategy, moving from inoculating people in retirement homes and health care workers to a broader range of senior citizens, who can now get their jabs in dedicated vaccination centers.
At the same time, plans for prioritizing certain “essential workers” are being scaled back, meaning top EU officials and MEPs will likely have to wait longer to get their coronavirus shot.
So if you’re in Belgium, here’s what you need to know about when — and how — you might receive your shot.
Who’s getting vaccinated now? Who’s next? When am I up?
The criteria for who qualifies under phase 1B vary slightly between the three Belgian regions — Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels.
In Brussels, authorities two weeks ago started inoculating people over 75. And they were hoping to invite all adults 65-plus by last week to schedule their first shot. However, as of last week, the Brussels region had only moved to vaccinate people 74 and up, indicating that the process was lagging.
“There are many people in the 70-plus age group,” said Inge Neven from the Brussels region health care service, adding there is still a bottleneck in vaccine deliveries. This past week, Brussels only got 15,000 doses.
These doses are currently being distributed among seven vaccination centers in the city region, with three additional centers set to open this week.
Neven said authorities will gradually lower the qualifying age until everyone 65 and up has gotten a coronavirus shot. Next, “vulnerable” people will be eligible — meaning all residents 18 and older with serious diseases like cancer, or people 45-plus who suffer from issues such as obesity or chronic respiratory conditions.
Then, come April, jabs will be given to all adults with comorbidities, such as diabetes or obesity, although the exact details are still being finalized.
Finally, by early June, Belgium plans to move to phase 2, meaning vaccination centers will open to all adults. Politicians are hoping everyone who wants a jab can get one before the summer holidays.
“If the vaccines are delivered as promised, we can administer at least a first shot to every person over the age of 18 by July 11,” Flemish Health Minister Welzijn Wouter Beke recently told Belgian TV.
A similar goal is possible for the Brussels region, according to Neven, although she added a big caveat.
“The supply of the vaccines is still fairly uncertain,” she said. “But if Flanders can do it, so can we.”
How do I get an appointment?
All Belgian residents — including registered foreigners — will be invited via email and text message to make an appointment when they are eligible, with health insurers providing the necessary details. Those who do not reply will get a postal invitation a few days later.
People can then use these invitations to book an appointment at a vaccination center.
For MEPs and officials working at the EU institutions, the process is a bit different. The European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU all have their own vaccination centers, which are set to open this week. Here, Eurocrats can get vaccinated if they meet the same criteria as defined by the Brussels regional authorities.
Initially, Belgium had planned to offer vaccines to “essential workers” in April — a decision that raised expectations in the EU bubble that MEPs, commissioners or senior officials might get an early coronavirus shot due to their key role in EU policy-making.
But Neven said the Brussels region is now scaling back those plans: “With the coronavirus infections rising again, we would like to prioritize vulnerable people with comorbidities,” she said.
Potentially, a wide array of essential workers could get their vaccine later in May, after all vulnerable people have been protected and just before vaccination centers open for everyone, she said. But these plans are still under discussion, she added. For now, the only essential workers eligible for the vaccine are policemen.
Diplomats, for their part, will get their vaccines via the Belgian foreign ministry.
“All [accredited] staff members of diplomatic missions, consular posts and international organizations as well as their family members … will be included in the national vaccination strategy,” said a foreign ministry spokesperson, adding that the same rules for age groups and vulnerabilities apply.
Will the vaccine booking system get an upgrade?
The Belgian vaccine booking system has not always received glowing reviews.
There have been warnings about scammers sending out fake invitations asking people for money in exchange for scheduling an appointment. And Belgian media reported that some invitations have gone to the wrong people. One Flemish nursery school-aged student even got two email invitations to use the system — both addressed to other persons than him.
Another criticism is that inevitably some people will fail to respond to their vaccine invites, running the risk that some doses may be left unused.
To avoid that, other countries like Germany have designed an open system where interested people can book appointments themselves and then prove their eligibility at the vaccination center.
Neven said Brussels was “working on a complementary system to be able to do this, as well” — a step that may help once the entire adult population becomes eligible for a vaccine.
This article is part of POLITICO’s premium policy service: Pro Health Care. From drug pricing, EMA, vaccines, pharma and more, our specialized journalists keep you on top of the topics driving the health care policy agenda. Email [email protected] for a complimentary trial.